4 ms·
"Total compensation" which is valley-speak for what you get paid plus what you make from stock and other forms of compensation. This is one of the big things y
by 01100011 4y ago
"Total compensation" which is valley-speak for what you get paid plus what you make from stock and other forms of compensation.
This is one of the big things you'll run into in the valley: folks who value that extra $150-250k of compensation every year vs proximity to friends+family, work/life balance, etc.
If the folks I work with are any indication, the extra money is what you'll tell yourself you'll spend one day while you blow the best years of your life grinding away at work. This is how you end up one of those weird, 60+, friendless engineers living in, I don't know, Las Vegas, driving a supercar and married to a foreign woman who only loves you for your money. But there are folks who will argue that that is a great life and if you want to work with them, the valley is there for you!
- ZephyrBlu 4y agoI don't even live in the US let alone SV and I don't work at FAANG. Comparing companies without taking compensation into account is just silly. > If the folks I work with are any indication, the extra money is what you'll tell yourself you'll spend one day while you blow the best years of your life grinding away at work I'm curious how old you are and how many YOE you had before you joined FAANG as a senior. What did you spend "the best years of your life" doing instead of "grinding away at work"?
- 01100011 4y agoJoined a FAANG around 42 w/ 25 years of experience. Spent most of my time at smaller tech companies in a smaller market where I owned a house and enjoyed life outside of work. I was married and ended up getting divorced and stuck w/ hellacious alimony(no kids, just lazy wife) so I had to work in the valley gold mines to make up for it. I want to add here that I'm not totally bagging on FAANG work. I'm glad I did it(and still am). I have an immensely impactful role that pays well even if I don't enjoy the team I'm on. But I work with people who have spent most of their careers in the valley and it shows. They're middle aged and frustrated that, despite their single, high paying FAANG job they can't buy a house or find a spouse("Man Jose" and all that). They're folks without hobbies who only seem to find worth in their work accomplishments. Maybe I'm just old and these are the kinds of people society cranks out now. I don't know.
- slaw 4y agoWhat crappy state or country you live that forces you to support lazy ex-wife?
- 01100011 4y agoCalifornia. Long-term marriage. Wife resisted getting a real job for years while promising her various artistic endeavors would turn into a career. Now she has no skills(on paper anyway) and gets to sit around watching netflix all day in oregon while I pay for it.
- irrational 4y agoFor how long? Until she dies?
- rjh29 4y agoI mean, you got married and divorced and now you're forced to work hard to pay alimony, yet you are judging people who are single? Maybe they just don't want to get married? You're not exactly making it seem appealing.
- 01100011 4y agoI'd rather have loved and lost than have missed out and died single. Marriage is great, which is why I remarried. Just understand what you're getting into and make some money before you get married. Then you have something that can't easily be taken away in a divorce. My mistake was marrying at 20 and not realizing the ex was a slouch.
- throwaway2037 4y ago"42 w/ 25 years of experience". Umm... Tell us about your full time professional work at 17 years old. We are curious to learn more. It's probably more like 20-21 years.
- 4y ago
- renewiltord 4y agoThe foreign women are stealing our men!
- smabie 4y agoI for one enjoy supercars and foreign women
- coldtea 4y agoYes, midlife crisis purchases and mail-order-style gold-diggers (supercars and foreign women in the context of what the parent is talking about) sure are fun, if you haven't got an actual life!
- VirusNewbie 4y agoI’ve worked at lots of small companies, some super large companies, and FAANG, and by far the most overworked people were often at the small companies. FAANG folks I work with mostly worked hard but at a reasonable pace, not running themselves ragged like the startup folks I know.
- 01100011 4y agoAre startups your only experience with small companies? There is a world of successful, profitable, smaller companies that probably outnumber startups 10:1.
- VirusNewbie 4y agoYes i’ve worked for those too. Definitely comparable wlb to FAAANG on average. I have no doubt there are more chill companies but in my experience smaller companies tend to push as much or more because owners see the employees coming out of their bottom line and profits are tighter.