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Meh. Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team; it's not a place you'd want to be if you aren't hell bent on going for the gold. The irony is tha

Meh. Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team; it's not a place you'd want to be if you aren't hell bent on going for the gold. The irony is that the pressure cooker works; an unhealthy degree of ambition, competitiveness, and willingness to work their tails off are all assets in the business world. I know a, at least to me, surprising number of people who successfully navigated these environments who later became founders/CEOs and high level executives.

electrondood 3y ago
> Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team; it's not a place you'd want to be if you aren't hell bent on going for the gold. Not according to everyone I know working at a FAANG company. This is mythology. You're at a FAANG because you did the LeetCode grind and passed the interview.
mattgreenrocks 3y ago
This feels like the tech version of the temporarily embarrassed millionaire meme: it's something people need to be true so they can justify their ambitions of making it. So they repeat it, and say it enough to believe it. FAANG employees are no different from you and I in the aggregate. That's not a dig, that's just statistics.
Cheezewheel 3y ago
It is naive to even imply that being a hard worker is going to insulate you from getting culled or laid off.
pyrale 3y ago
> Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team I guess, if the discipline is corruption. My company doesn't feel the need to tell me how to avoid discussing sensible topics with my teammates on group chat. Yeah, because technical merit isn't the only way you get ranked in the stack. For instance, would you say no to an ethically questionable order if you're on a PIP?
steveBK123 3y ago
Tts almost the opposite. Olympics has a bunch of objective measures of performance. For individual sports its winning, for team sports theres various scoring/assist/defense/etc metrics that can be used.. plus if your team wins. In tech, good luck. It's all vibes.

electrondood 3y ago

> Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team; it's not a place you'd want to be if you aren't hell bent on going for the gold. Not according to everyone I know working at a FAANG company. This is mythology. You're at a FAANG because you did the LeetCode grind and passed the interview.

mattgreenrocks 3y ago

This feels like the tech version of the temporarily embarrassed millionaire meme: it's something people need to be true so they can justify their ambitions of making it. So they repeat it, and say it enough to believe it. FAANG employees are no different from you and I in the aggregate. That's not a dig, that's just statistics.

Cheezewheel 3y ago

It is naive to even imply that being a hard worker is going to insulate you from getting culled or laid off.

pyrale 3y ago

> Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team I guess, if the discipline is corruption. My company doesn't feel the need to tell me how to avoid discussing sensible topics with my teammates on group chat. Yeah, because technical merit isn't the only way you get ranked in the stack. For instance, would you say no to an ethically questionable order if you're on a PIP?

steveBK123 3y ago

Tts almost the opposite. Olympics has a bunch of objective measures of performance. For individual sports its winning, for team sports theres various scoring/assist/defense/etc metrics that can be used.. plus if your team wins. In tech, good luck. It's all vibes.