5 ms·

I quit FAANG to do startups this year. I quit because I was completely bored out of my mind, hyper underutilized, there were so many people around me doing the

I quit FAANG to do startups this year. I quit because I was completely bored out of my mind, hyper underutilized, there were so many people around me doing the same work as me so zero interesting growth options. Now that I am in a (very good) startup, I am incredibly happy, learning and innovating nonstop, meeting new people, in a hyper growth market, building a completely new skillset. I could never go back to these big companies. Not unless I was reporting directly to a CEO. I am not getting rich but I am filled with joy. At my previous job, I was so frustrated and the work was so pointless I was literally throwing things in my house. It made me so angry how stupid and useless a waste of time. We were working on a product which was entirely fake and everyone in the team knew it, but it was generally agreed we would all fake it together. I would rather suck on a gas pipe than go back. It was damaging my mental health. Say what you want about desperation: You only have time in your life. They were wasting my only resource, my time.

ng12 4y ago
I did the same, except I ended up at two startups which became toxic and stressful and not nearly worth the effort I put into them. Maybe I'm just not good at picking startups. Anyways, I'm back at a boring but high paying job and trying to focus less on the things I do at work and more on the things I do outside of it.
- gnat 4y ago
  > trying to focus less on the things I do at work and more on the things I do outside of it This is an under-recommended but totally solid approach to a happy life. The takeaway I got from Po Bronson's "What Should I Do With My Life?" was that vocations are overrated -- your job might be funding the things that make you happy today and that's just fine. The secret is to be happy today, not to be miserable now because <some story about future happiness>.
greatpostman 4y ago
I’m currently trapped in FAANG. What you have sounds amazing, but a lot of startups are terrible
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- marginalia_nu 4y ago
  Sometimes going from one kind of soul crushing to a different kind of terrible can be nice.
seydor 4y ago
Sometimes working in academia feels like that
AtlasBarfed 4y ago
Wow, funding must be good... Don't assume all startups in all stages are like that.
moonchrome 4y ago
> At my previous job, I was so frustrated and the work was so pointless I was literally throwing things in my house. It made me so angry how stupid and useless a waste of time. We were working on a product which was entirely fake and everyone in the team knew it, but it was generally agreed we would all fake it together. Sounds like a lot of startups I've contracted for TBH. I'm stumped how people are willing to throw away money at obviously dead end ideas. Not like 1/12 chances of succeeding more like 1/100. And not that great upside if they win either.
- arcturus17 4y ago
  I think 1/100 is the order of magnitude of success probability for a YC-backed startup… For others you’d be tending even closer to zero.
  - MacsHeadroom 4y ago
    The likelihood of a startup being around at 10 years is about 30% for statups generally after the third year. But around 90% don't make it beyond their third birthday. So, joining a 3+ year old start-up is actually fairly safe. The odds of "success" in terms of your role still being needed 5+ years away is as good, if not better, than it is at any big corp. Plus your work is way more likely to have a far more immediate and obvious impact on the business and on customers during that time.

ng12 4y ago

I did the same, except I ended up at two startups which became toxic and stressful and not nearly worth the effort I put into them. Maybe I'm just not good at picking startups. Anyways, I'm back at a boring but high paying job and trying to focus less on the things I do at work and more on the things I do outside of it.

gnat 4y ago
> trying to focus less on the things I do at work and more on the things I do outside of it This is an under-recommended but totally solid approach to a happy life. The takeaway I got from Po Bronson's "What Should I Do With My Life?" was that vocations are overrated -- your job might be funding the things that make you happy today and that's just fine. The secret is to be happy today, not to be miserable now because <some story about future happiness>.

greatpostman 4y ago

I’m currently trapped in FAANG. What you have sounds amazing, but a lot of startups are terrible

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
marginalia_nu 4y ago
Sometimes going from one kind of soul crushing to a different kind of terrible can be nice.

seydor 4y ago

Sometimes working in academia feels like that

AtlasBarfed 4y ago

Wow, funding must be good... Don't assume all startups in all stages are like that.

moonchrome 4y ago

> At my previous job, I was so frustrated and the work was so pointless I was literally throwing things in my house. It made me so angry how stupid and useless a waste of time. We were working on a product which was entirely fake and everyone in the team knew it, but it was generally agreed we would all fake it together. Sounds like a lot of startups I've contracted for TBH. I'm stumped how people are willing to throw away money at obviously dead end ideas. Not like 1/12 chances of succeeding more like 1/100. And not that great upside if they win either.

arcturus17 4y ago
I think 1/100 is the order of magnitude of success probability for a YC-backed startup… For others you’d be tending even closer to zero.
- MacsHeadroom 4y ago
  The likelihood of a startup being around at 10 years is about 30% for statups generally after the third year. But around 90% don't make it beyond their third birthday. So, joining a 3+ year old start-up is actually fairly safe. The odds of "success" in terms of your role still being needed 5+ years away is as good, if not better, than it is at any big corp. Plus your work is way more likely to have a far more immediate and obvious impact on the business and on customers during that time.