gotaran

8 ms·

31.
by gotaran 3y ago
5 of my close friends work at Meta, and 2 at Google. All engineers. I visit the NYC Union Square and Hudson Yards offices regularly for dinner, and even the Seattle Westlake and MPK ones whenever I’m visiting. The mood there is much much be
32.
by gotaran 3y ago
I know many engineers at Meta and Google. They all say only chronic underperformers were laid off, and some chronic underperformers weren’t. It’s a different story for recruiters and middle managers, which were super bloated anyway. So this
33.
by gotaran 3y ago
NYC’s population is still below pre pandemic levels. . Exorbitant rent prices there are due to multiple factors, but population increase is not one of them: https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/8/4/23819420/why-i
34.
by gotaran 3y ago
But you’re way less likely to get stabbed near the major conference hotels around Disney World.
35.
by gotaran 3y ago
There’s way too much hindsight bias here though. SF office vacancies were at an all time low in 2019. I knew many founders who were struggling to find office space.
36.
by gotaran 3y ago
BlackHat is “RSA in the desert”. It’s just a bunch of ridiculous vendors shilling their snake oil. There are a few decent talks at BlackHat, but most of it is mind numbingly stupid.
37.
by gotaran 3y ago
Yeah, sometimes it takes 15 minutes to just walk to the casino next door.
38.
by gotaran 3y ago
Though some of the more informative conferences (pre COVID) that I attended were smaller lower key ones held in Facebook/Google HQ. Most attendees were local anyway. I also enjoy hangouts like B-Sides in smaller venues.
39.
by gotaran 3y ago
There’s a lot of (admittedly warranted) shade been thrown on SF here over the past two days. But putting that aside, I feel sad that remote work + the tech downturn means that employers have slashed all conference travel budgets. Conference
40.
by gotaran 3y ago
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, but “Cerebral Valley” is pure cringe. It has the energy of a third tier tech city like Boise or Vegas trying to “make it”.
41.
by gotaran 3y ago
A Detroit like apocalyptic scenario isn’t a certainty, but a possibility we should entertain. A city with vibrant culture, extreme wealth, and great architecture? That was Detroit in the 50s. A sudden outflow of labor? That could be SF with
42.
by gotaran 3y ago
Uh, hotels in SF are faring even worse. A few Hilton (?) property owners decided to default on their loans.
43.
by gotaran 3y ago
That’s blatant cherry-picking. North Beach and the Marina are the only two neighborhoods in the core of SF that resemble pre-COVID normalcy. Go to the Mission, the Castro, the Haight, Hayes Valley, or FiDi. It’s a disaster. Assuming that th
44.
by gotaran 3y ago
And I live in Manhattan now. Sure, there’s a bunch of office vacancies, but when it comes to foot traffic it looks like it’s 100% recovered. Can’t say the same about FiDi in SF
45.
by gotaran 3y ago
Except, in this case, there aren’t. WFH + a nonexistent job market for CS grads means that there isn’t much of an influx.
46.
by gotaran 3y ago
I find it hard to believe that it’s just 16%. The last time I saw that stat, it was just tourism revenue without inflation adjustments. I left SF late last year and I visit quarterly on business. It’s obvious that business travel is way dow
47.
by gotaran 3y ago
Hotel lobbies, especially those like Ace, CitizenM, Public, and Moxy, are my favorite public spaces. You could practically spend the entire day there. Start with a coffee and end it with a nightcap. There’s almost always a place to sit. You
48.
by gotaran 3y ago
I live in a cramped pre war studio in Manhattan. There’s countless bars a 5 minute walk from me - including hotel bars.
49.
by gotaran 3y ago
Point taken, though it’s worth noting that living expenses shoot up when you’re unemployed. Health insurance being the big one.
50.
by gotaran 3y ago
I lived in SF for 9 years. Good memories. And during peak tech boom you could easily shield yourself from the worst of the city. Ubers were cheap, office perks kept you from venturing out, and foot traffic was high enough to make the open a
51.
by gotaran 3y ago
I made that much for 4 years and have a total of 10 years work experience. I’m nowhere near retired. And I’ve been single the entire time. $500k is more like $275k after taxes. Assuming $60k/yr in living expenses, which is pretty fruga
52.
by gotaran 3y ago
Yeah, I’ve worked at both FAANG and non-FAANG series C companies, and made between $450k-$550k between 2018 and 2021. And I wasn’t even staff level. I decided I was tired of all that bureaucracy and decided to join a series C startup making
53.
by gotaran 3y ago
People taking calls from their desks is the worst post COVID office etiquette change I’ve noticed.
54.
by gotaran 3y ago
It isn’t okay, but there’s enough nonverbal cues you can use to determine whether someone is busy at their desk.
55.
by gotaran 4y ago
It seems like you flew to South Korea recently? So you haven’t been a complete shut in. Also, Omicron spread like wildfire there too, despite South Korea being one of the few countries where people wear not just surgical masks but high qual
56.
by gotaran 4y ago
I find it odd that I’ve never had COVID symptoms, even though post vaccination I’ve more or less lived my life like it was 2019. I don’t wear a mask unless mandated. I go to my open plan office 5 days a week. I go to the gym or fitness clas
57.
by gotaran 4y ago
NYC weather is very subjective. I think the summers are gross, to the point where I feel like I need a shower after walking out to grab a dollar slice, sometimes even at night. But I love fall, spring, and Christmastime. The winters are tol
58.
by gotaran 4y ago
TIL a 7 figure mortgage makes you soft.
59.
by gotaran 4y ago
There are many reasons to dunk on SF, but calling it a "piece of suburbia" isn't it.
60.
by gotaran 4y ago
I lived in SF for 10 years and recently moved to Manhattan. I feel like there's a lot more stigma associated with having roommates in NYC or LA than in SF, at least among the yuppie millennial crowd.

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