9 ms·

> of working very hard, instead of coasting I work at a FAANG, not coasting and make a lot of money and have made a lot of money every year for nearly a decade

> of working very hard, instead of coasting I work at a FAANG, not coasting and make a lot of money and have made a lot of money every year for nearly a decade. I'll continue to make a lot of money and not worry about whether my startup will or won't succeed.

koromak 4y ago
That is the definition of coasting
- versteegen 4y ago
  My reading of GP is that by working at a BigCo you remove the worry of whether your company will go under. Regardless of how hard you work.
- smarmgoblin 4y ago
  Most definitions of coasting would involve not working hard.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
sillysaurusx 4y ago
I think I misread your comment, so I deleted my earlier one. Sorry. You’re right: if you’re going to work hard, you may as well choose the path with the highest rewards. If Stripe can’t make it worthwhile, is there a good reason to trade away what you’d get at FAANG? So the hard workers have a lucrative path (FAANG), and the ones who want to spend more time away from work have a more lucrative path (BigCo). That doesn’t leave a lot of reasons to choose to be an early startup employee.
- Godel_unicode 4y ago
  First, for some people front loading their earnings is important so they can enjoy more of life. Second, as another thread goes into, the risk-adjusted picture of startup vs established tech company is quite different.
- rattray 4y ago
  FWIW I joined stripe at around 600 people and almost certainly will prove to have done much better there than at faang financially (and quality of life/work). N=1 but I expect the same is true of most people who've worked there even until recently.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    But statistically, the chance of any startup succeeding is about 10% and buy “success it just means that the investors didn’t lose money - not that you made a killing
    - dasil003 4y ago
      Joining Stripe at 600 was not that kind of bet. It was significantly derisked by that point was really a question of how far that early momentum could carry them.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        So isn’t it still risky since you can’t get access to your equity? My RSUs are deposited into my account every six months and I can sell and diversify them.
        fallingknife 4y ago
        Eventually the tech market will turn around, and they will be able to IPO. Stripe is projected to turn a profit this year, so there is no runway, and they can wait as long as the want for the right time. So Stripe equity isn't that risky. For 95% of startups it would be, though.
        scarface74 4y ago
        How does that help someone with financial needs now? I’m not one of those people who keep my RSUs after they vest. I diversify over six months. I wouldn’t buy 30% of my company’s stock with cash if I were getting paid in cash , why would I keep my RSUs instead of diversify? Of course that doesn’t mean I think the company I work for is going to disappear anytime soon.
- bboygravity 4y ago
  As a European I feel like both those concepts (big money jobs or big money startups) are a USA only concept. Anywhere else in the world that has those kinds of options? China maybe?
  - admissionsguy 4y ago
    But we get frEe hEaLtHcaRe! And when you factor in the municipal bus network, a $40k salary at Klarna in Stockholm is basically the same as a $350k salary at Stripe in the US. Not to mention in the USA, god knows what cookies might be put into your browser by any random cooking blog, without warning.
    - wreath 4y ago
      You dont have free healthcare. You pay for it like tech employees in the US do and you probably get worse service. At least there is a chance in the US to make generational wealth for a middle class, but no way in hell in Europe.
      - messe 4y ago
        > You dont have free healthcare If you’re going to use that sort of reasoning, then you don’t get free anything other than air. Yes, it’s paid for by taxes (or through insurance depending on country; yes we have cheap private insurance here). Thank you for bringing that to our attention, our feeble European brains were unable to deduce that on our own.
        thomascarney 4y ago
        In Germany, my wife and I pay together about ~2,000 USD per month for public health insurance. It's not cheap!
        admissionsguy 4y ago
        Nor is it universal: I can count at least one extended family member who is not insured and is one accident away from bankruptcy - not unlike some people in the US - except that personal bankruptcy is exceedingly difficult process in their EU country, and it would be quite doable (if not straightforward) to go to prison for the debt.
thrashh 4y ago
Some people love that kind of stress though. Like some people like working hard so they can up front all their work and retire earlier. And others like coasting so they can live their 20s before it’s gone. Different strokes.
- oblio 4y ago
  True, but group A has a 1% (5%?) chance of achieving their goal while group B has a 80% (100%?) chance of achieving theirs. Always include the odds in these calculations :-)
  - WJW 4y ago
    Indeed. Apart from option A (work hard at startup, get rich if startup exits successfully) and option B (work less hard FAANG, get paid with very high likelihood), there are also at least option C (work hard at startup, get almost nothing because the startup fails) and option D (work less hard at FAANG, don't get paid). Option C is much more likely than option A, but option D is much less likely than option B (unless you work at Twitter I guess).
    - sverhagen 4y ago
      Or you'd never qualify for a FAANG, and startups are your only chance to riches...
      - WJW 4y ago
        I think you focused too much on the "FAANG" part of my previous post and not enough on the "odds" part. Let me rephrase my previous point: Startups are not a reliable path to riches, anymore than the casino is. A "normal" career, whether in FAANG or in the less flashy parts of the industry, has a vastly lower variablility than the startup route with the same or higher expected value when measured over a few decades. Don't get fooled by the marketing posts that feature only successful founders while ignoring the mountain of failed startups that cost their early employees millions in opportunity costs.
tsunamifury 4y ago
I dunno if I’d be so sure of yourself if I were you.
- notyourwork 4y ago
  In what way? 10 years of engineering shouldn’t instill some confidence in my skill set?
  - tsunamifury 4y ago
    Skill has nothing to do with layoffs.
    - notyourwork 4y ago
      Skill doesn’t but choosing what parts of a global conglomerate you chose to work in does. Going to build the newest AWS service that will change th world, maybe you will see a layoff, maybe you fail, maybe you succeed. Going to work in a core money printing factory for your business like Google ads, layoffs are less likely. GOing to work on HR/recruiting software to help your company hire more people, you sure as shit will see layoffs coming your way. Not all roles in these big companies are viewed as equal when it comes to how leadership views the value your team/department/org plays within the companies bigger picture. Be business smart, not just engineering smart and layoffs likely don’t come your way. Further this with being non-financially illiterate, save money, don’t live beyond your means, treat your stock RSUs as bonus income and life will start to look a lot different.
      - tsunamifury 4y ago
        So be a drone. I mean it works until it doesn’t. I wouldn’t be so confident.

koromak 4y ago

That is the definition of coasting

versteegen 4y ago
My reading of GP is that by working at a BigCo you remove the worry of whether your company will go under. Regardless of how hard you work.
smarmgoblin 4y ago
Most definitions of coasting would involve not working hard.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

sillysaurusx 4y ago

I think I misread your comment, so I deleted my earlier one. Sorry. You’re right: if you’re going to work hard, you may as well choose the path with the highest rewards. If Stripe can’t make it worthwhile, is there a good reason to trade away what you’d get at FAANG? So the hard workers have a lucrative path (FAANG), and the ones who want to spend more time away from work have a more lucrative path (BigCo). That doesn’t leave a lot of reasons to choose to be an early startup employee.

Godel_unicode 4y ago
First, for some people front loading their earnings is important so they can enjoy more of life. Second, as another thread goes into, the risk-adjusted picture of startup vs established tech company is quite different.
rattray 4y ago
FWIW I joined stripe at around 600 people and almost certainly will prove to have done much better there than at faang financially (and quality of life/work). N=1 but I expect the same is true of most people who've worked there even until recently.
- scarface74 4y ago
  But statistically, the chance of any startup succeeding is about 10% and buy “success it just means that the investors didn’t lose money - not that you made a killing
  - dasil003 4y ago
    Joining Stripe at 600 was not that kind of bet. It was significantly derisked by that point was really a question of how far that early momentum could carry them.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      So isn’t it still risky since you can’t get access to your equity? My RSUs are deposited into my account every six months and I can sell and diversify them.
      - fallingknife 4y ago
        Eventually the tech market will turn around, and they will be able to IPO. Stripe is projected to turn a profit this year, so there is no runway, and they can wait as long as the want for the right time. So Stripe equity isn't that risky. For 95% of startups it would be, though.
        scarface74 4y ago
        How does that help someone with financial needs now? I’m not one of those people who keep my RSUs after they vest. I diversify over six months. I wouldn’t buy 30% of my company’s stock with cash if I were getting paid in cash , why would I keep my RSUs instead of diversify? Of course that doesn’t mean I think the company I work for is going to disappear anytime soon.
bboygravity 4y ago
As a European I feel like both those concepts (big money jobs or big money startups) are a USA only concept. Anywhere else in the world that has those kinds of options? China maybe?
- admissionsguy 4y ago
  But we get frEe hEaLtHcaRe! And when you factor in the municipal bus network, a $40k salary at Klarna in Stockholm is basically the same as a $350k salary at Stripe in the US. Not to mention in the USA, god knows what cookies might be put into your browser by any random cooking blog, without warning.
  - wreath 4y ago
    You dont have free healthcare. You pay for it like tech employees in the US do and you probably get worse service. At least there is a chance in the US to make generational wealth for a middle class, but no way in hell in Europe.
    - messe 4y ago
      > You dont have free healthcare If you’re going to use that sort of reasoning, then you don’t get free anything other than air. Yes, it’s paid for by taxes (or through insurance depending on country; yes we have cheap private insurance here). Thank you for bringing that to our attention, our feeble European brains were unable to deduce that on our own.
      - thomascarney 4y ago
        In Germany, my wife and I pay together about ~2,000 USD per month for public health insurance. It's not cheap!
        admissionsguy 4y ago
        Nor is it universal: I can count at least one extended family member who is not insured and is one accident away from bankruptcy - not unlike some people in the US - except that personal bankruptcy is exceedingly difficult process in their EU country, and it would be quite doable (if not straightforward) to go to prison for the debt.

thrashh 4y ago

Some people love that kind of stress though. Like some people like working hard so they can up front all their work and retire earlier. And others like coasting so they can live their 20s before it’s gone. Different strokes.

oblio 4y ago
True, but group A has a 1% (5%?) chance of achieving their goal while group B has a 80% (100%?) chance of achieving theirs. Always include the odds in these calculations :-)
- WJW 4y ago
  Indeed. Apart from option A (work hard at startup, get rich if startup exits successfully) and option B (work less hard FAANG, get paid with very high likelihood), there are also at least option C (work hard at startup, get almost nothing because the startup fails) and option D (work less hard at FAANG, don't get paid). Option C is much more likely than option A, but option D is much less likely than option B (unless you work at Twitter I guess).
  - sverhagen 4y ago
    Or you'd never qualify for a FAANG, and startups are your only chance to riches...
    - WJW 4y ago
      I think you focused too much on the "FAANG" part of my previous post and not enough on the "odds" part. Let me rephrase my previous point: Startups are not a reliable path to riches, anymore than the casino is. A "normal" career, whether in FAANG or in the less flashy parts of the industry, has a vastly lower variablility than the startup route with the same or higher expected value when measured over a few decades. Don't get fooled by the marketing posts that feature only successful founders while ignoring the mountain of failed startups that cost their early employees millions in opportunity costs.

tsunamifury 4y ago

I dunno if I’d be so sure of yourself if I were you.

notyourwork 4y ago
In what way? 10 years of engineering shouldn’t instill some confidence in my skill set?
- tsunamifury 4y ago
  Skill has nothing to do with layoffs.
  - notyourwork 4y ago
    Skill doesn’t but choosing what parts of a global conglomerate you chose to work in does. Going to build the newest AWS service that will change th world, maybe you will see a layoff, maybe you fail, maybe you succeed. Going to work in a core money printing factory for your business like Google ads, layoffs are less likely. GOing to work on HR/recruiting software to help your company hire more people, you sure as shit will see layoffs coming your way. Not all roles in these big companies are viewed as equal when it comes to how leadership views the value your team/department/org plays within the companies bigger picture. Be business smart, not just engineering smart and layoffs likely don’t come your way. Further this with being non-financially illiterate, save money, don’t live beyond your means, treat your stock RSUs as bonus income and life will start to look a lot different.
    - tsunamifury 4y ago
      So be a drone. I mean it works until it doesn’t. I wouldn’t be so confident.