Life at Twitter pre Musk? Could this be accurate?

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I spent my entire 28 year career working as a systems engineer in Silicon Valley.

One thing that's lost in this perk discussion is that Silicon Valley is a dog eat dog place. Budgets are a zero sum game. It's an "at will" place of employment. If you want to prosper, or even survive, you better be willing to play hardball with your career.

Scott

PS The woman in that video.....she wouldn't have lasted three months at my place of employment. She sounds like nothing more than "overhead". I can absolutely guarantee you a person like her would not be doing an all nighter to meet a deadline or find a fix for a mission critical customer.
Yep. Politics rule; hardball is the name of the game. There is no fair. If you wanna play with the big boys you better expect some bruises. Roll with the blows. But if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and you are qualified for the business need being addressed, enjoy the ride.

I used to think everyone got options and grants. I was wrong. The money is there if you are responsible for a mission critical function. Golden handcuffs baby!
 
Yep. Politics rule; hardball is the name of the game. There is no fair. If you wanna play with the big boys you better expect some bruises. Roll with the blows. But if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and you are qualified for the business need being addressed, enjoy the ride.

I used to think everyone got options and grants. I was wrong. The money is there if you are responsible for a mission critical function. Golden handcuffs baby!
I knew how the game worked anyway, but when I became a manager late in my career I realized just how potent the zero sum game was. I'd usually get a 5% to 8% budget increase every year for salaries. I gave some of my highest performers 10% or more. Some got nothing. This compensation model is a good one IMO. It tells a person exactly where they stand.

Scott
 
Hope Jeff will chime in as our silicone valley insider.

Just read an article that Twitter daily food costs per employee were $400. I can't believe that number, but it was still eye catching. I then came across this video allegedly posted by. Twitter employee. I can't verify, validate, nor accredit the video. But I will say, if the video is even remotely accurate, I could never ever work for a organization like that. I need to feel I add value to what I do, where I work. Very unlikely the person in the video adds more value to the organization than paid. And I understand the video may be a hoax.


The massage room and yoga mats are a bit much but aside for that all I see is coffee a football table and rooftop break area.

I see nothing matching the food cost claim like a staff in a commercial kitchen.

My industry experienced a sea change with Post Production Houses almost all having an onsite chef and staff, everyone ate for free often taking home food everyday. It was brutally expensive.
 
For comparison here is a quick tour of the Apple Headquarters. A lot of nice benefits for employees including food.

I know someone who works there. She loves it.



Thanks for posting, pimtac. Apple Park is the crown jewel of Silicon Valley. I had three friends who worked there. I will say once again, it's no picnic. You have to work hard to stay alive there (at least in the Steve Jobs era).

Scott
 
Thanks for posting, pimtac. Apple Park is the crown jewel of Silicon Valley. I had three friends who worked there. I will say once again, it's no picnic. You have to work hard to stay alive there (at least in the Steve Jobs era).

Scott

Yeah, not sure how it is now, but I talked to some folks that worked for apple and all those nice amenities are not just for show or your “well being”. They are there so that you stay there for as long as possible. And it was expected of you to work long hours. Those that did 9-5 did not last long there.
 
Thanks for posting, pimtac. Apple Park is the crown jewel of Silicon Valley. I had three friends who worked there. I will say once again, it's no picnic. You have to work hard to stay alive there (at least in the Steve Jobs era).

Scott
Pimtac thanks for posting/ Scott thank for highlighting Apple Park.

The video was great- I had no idea about Apple Park. And that Steve Jobs personally designed Apple Park- how cool is that.

I wonder if cell phones as we know them today might be significantly different if it wasn't for Steve Jobs influence.
 
Pimtac thanks for posting/ Scott thank for highlighting Apple Park.

The video was great- I had no idea about Apple Park. And that Steve Jobs personally designed Apple Park- how cool is that.

I wonder if cell phones as we know them today might be significantly different if it wasn't for Steve Jobs influence.


His vision for the iPhone was really simple. Get rid of the buttons. You then had an interface that could be expanded and updated to accommodate future ideas.

His iPhone introductory speech is classic.


 
A little known fact, Apple Park is larger than the Pentagon.

Scott
Wow, I was taught (quite possibly erroneously) that the Pentagon was the largest building in the world under one roof. Of course, I learned this prior to Apple Park construction, and of course the definition of largest building under one roof is subject to interpretation.
 
I knew how the game worked anyway, but when I became a manager late in my career I realized just how potent the zero sum game was. I'd usually get a 5% to 8% budget increase every year for salaries. I gave some of my highest performers 10% or more. Some got nothing. This compensation model is a good one IMO. It tells a person exactly where they stand.

Scott
I used to work for a company that operated in this manner, but my current company utilizes a model that bases merit increases on your performance score and where you stand within the pay band. Even if you exceed expectations, if you're above midpoint for your grade, it's going to be real tough to get more than a few percent.
 
His vision for the iPhone was really simple. Get rid of the buttons. You then had an interface that could be expanded and updated to accommodate future ideas.

His iPhone introductory speech is classic.



PT,

Awesome video- even motivational, thanks so much for posting the video, I had no idea how Apple as an organization thinks- I know Steve Jobs passed, but it still provides a great insight into the organization he built/ led.

On a fun note- Steve Jobs is not wearing a belt throughout the presentation. Not many male speakers could/ would go on stage without a belt. Very cool.
 
I used to work for a company that operated in this manner, but my current company utilizes a model that bases merit increases on your performance score and where you stand within the pay band. Even if you exceed expectations, if you're above midpoint for your grade, it's going to be real tough to get more than a few percent.
Can you promote into a high paying job category? That's the way it works in my business. A "system engineer's" job category in my company had 3 or 4 tiers within that job category; like systems engineer, senior systems engineer, advisory systems engineer, and principle systems engineer. I'm going by memory now (I retired in 2005), but I reckon there was a $100K difference spanning those tiers. Not to mention cash bonuses and stock options.

Scott
 
I can brew coffee at home much better than starbucks, yet the line at starbucks persists.

Brand name has real, intrinsic, value. Being first has its benefits.
I always wonder if that’s simply about laziness or daddy warbucks paying for everything. It blows my mind seeing the mega long lines at the coffee shops at 7am on my commute to work. To me, coffee time is about relaxing and enjoying my morning at home, and not joining the herd of cattle sitting in a mile long drive through line.
 
Can you promote into a high paying job category? That's the way it works in my business. A "system engineer's" job category in my company had 3 or 4 tiers within that job category; like systems engineer, senior systems engineer, advisory systems engineer, and principle systems engineer. I'm going by memory now (I retired in 2005), but I reckon there was a $100K difference spanning those tiers. Not to mention cash bonuses and stock options.

Scott
There are some certain job families which have a structure similar to what you described. However, once you get past a certain point, going to the next grade requires applying to a new role - and that comes with an expectation that you have been working on development plans towards that role...often for years.
 
Not sure if many of you know what WeChat is. It’s an app used in china and it basically allows to do everything in one app. Buy-sell, chat, post pictures, read news, watch videos etc. all in one.

If he can pull something like this off, whatever he paid for Twitter will look like lunch money IMO.
You mean like Facebook?
 
Apple HQ is affectionately known as The Spaceship around here. When it was announced, housing skyrocketed. My house was always worth more than my folks', even though their's was 1/3 bigger. No more.
 
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