Silicon Valley work culture

Well, MY company used to send us away for 3 or 4 day long "meetings". One year they sent 500 of us engineer types at an uber fancy resort in Arizona. Let's just say we partied and no expense was spared. The things that went on that weekend...OMG. :oops:

Scott

PS Smiling at ya with the "MY" @JeffKeryk.
I've been to HI close to 10 times. Driven the Autobahn is a drop dead gorgeous new Audi A6. Drove a Jeep around Grand Cayman.
 
I've been to HI close to 10 times. Driven the Autobahn is a drop dead gorgeous new Audi A6. Drove a Jeep around Grand Cayman.
Yep, one time I had a nearly new company-owned Audi A6 up to its top speed on the Autobahn (and I got passed by a 911 type Porsche doing at least 160 mph!). Another time while in England I had a company owned Mercedes completely sideways in the rain while doing a half dozen, opposite lock roundabout donuts at 3 AM, the Merc's engine screaming at 6K rpm! Or the night a colleague and I got airborne in a rented 5 liter Mustang GT in the corporate parking lot!

Scott
 
I can't say I disagree with your statement, but not everyone can be a surgeon, an airline pilot, or a systems engineer. It's all about a person's skill set (both native and taught) and how the labor market rewards that particular skill set.

Scott

We all have very special skills that not everyone can do.

Just like you mentioned your wife in another thread was a NICU nurse….. very difficult job.
 
I laugh at 80 hrs a week in an air conditioned office building sitting on a chair in front of a monitor. Any guy running his own yard service, or picking fruit works way harder for way less pay. And it is about 1000x more dangerous.
And few of those very hard-working folks have what it takes to truly succeed in the tech startup world, hence the disparity in compensation. Not a judgement or disparagement at all, just a fact. Different skillsets and abilities.
 
Well, MY company used to send us away for 3 or 4 day long "meetings". One year they sent 500 of us engineer types at an uber fancy resort in Arizona. Let's just say we partied and no expense was spared. The things that went on that weekend...OMG. :oops:

Scott

PS Smiling at ya with the "MY" @JeffKeryk.
Ahhh the tech boom. I was a Divisional Controller at the time with a high flying tech company, and was once asked to hide, "bury" the cost of a couple golf carts that somehow became submarines at a Sales event, apparently topless caddies were involved as was a downhill race. Small change in my overall budget, but a big favor to have in my pocket:cool: Good times, good times indeed.

I loved our time in Silicon Valley as coming from the Mass tech culture, the work culture was similar but the weather was, well California, not Massachusetts. What I did appreciate, was the overall culture of meritocracy. Maybe that has changed somewhat, but I felt it was and is the land of opportunity.
 
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We all have very special skills that not everyone can do.

Just like you mentioned your wife in another thread was a NICU nurse….. very difficult job.
Spot on. Far harder, and important, than anything I've ever come close to doing.

On a side note, I have to believe there are many skilled, hughly motovated and hard workers here on BITOG.
I bet they would have prospered here in the Valley. Just my 2 cents...
 
Brother JeffK paints a rose colored view of Silicone Valley along with his personal journey from rags to riches. My daughter has a different story.

She was into computers early, building gaming machines in the early 2000s when she was 14-15. She wanted to work in tech, specifically online gaming. Graduated HS in 2005 and attended the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Az graduating in 3 years instead of 4. Met her future husband there. She applied for and landed a job at Sony in San Diego as a lead designer, a feat that was impossible according to everyone. She became lead of a group doing game upgrades and customer satisfaction. She became known quickly in the industry for being that rare female with true tech ability and people skills, she took care of her team and also understood what players were looking for to stay engaged. She was making 6 figures a couple of years out of college. She got some of those bonus checks. Advanced and moved to different companies in Silicone Valley itself then in Orange County. Along the way liked it less and less. The expectations of working 70-80 hours a week endlessly, mid-management hacks giving impossible deadlines expecting more hours because they couldn't tell their bosses can't be done, meaningless meetings, 90 minute commutes to drive 10 miles wore her down and burned her out. Health suffered. Left that life and Cali in 2015. Fast forward today, now lives near Nashville and single and healthy, moved there in March to start a new career but the whole tariff fiasco tanked the job before she started so another hurdle to overcome. She could make a call and get hired tomorrow back in tech but not interested. The people she kept in contact with say it's worse than ever.

There was zero work/life balance, you were expected to view the job as your life. Yes there's opportunity but it takes a certain personality and skillset to tough it out. Jeff is right, it's not for everyone.
 
Brother JeffK paints a rose colored view of Silicone Valley along with his personal journey from rags to riches. My daughter has a different story.

She was into computers early, building gaming machines in the early 2000s when she was 14-15. She wanted to work in tech, specifically online gaming. Graduated HS in 2005 and attended the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Az graduating in 3 years instead of 4. Met her future husband there. She applied for and landed a job at Sony in San Diego as a lead designer, a feat that was impossible according to everyone. She became lead of a group doing game upgrades and customer satisfaction. She became known quickly in the industry for being that rare female with true tech ability and people skills, she took care of her team and also understood what players were looking for to stay engaged. She was making 6 figures a couple of years out of college. She got some of those bonus checks. Advanced and moved to different companies in Silicone Valley itself then in Orange County. Along the way liked it less and less. The expectations of working 70-80 hours a week endlessly, mid-management hacks giving impossible deadlines expecting more hours because they couldn't tell their bosses can't be done, meaningless meetings, 90 minute commutes to drive 10 miles wore her down and burned her out. Health suffered. Left that life and Cali in 2015. Fast forward today, now lives near Nashville and single and healthy, moved there in March to start a new career but the whole tariff fiasco tanked the job before she started so another hurdle to overcome. She could make a call and get hired tomorrow back in tech but not interested. The people she kept in contact with say it's worse than ever.

There was zero work/life balance, you were expected to view the job as your life. Yes there's opportunity but it takes a certain personality and skillset to tough it out. Jeff is right, it's not for everyone.
Her experience is very common. I tell people Silicon Valley chews up people and spits out money. Corporate politics can be brutal and highly unfair. Managers and co-workers can be cutthroat.
High tech business tends to be cyclical; feast or famine. I admire your daughter for her successes in high tech; it ain't easy. Many companies are very male dominated; it's an old boys club. My wife is a another lady who has risen above the fray; she is a senior manager and has gone far further than I.

There were times I worked those 80 hour weeks, but it is not the norm. If it were I would have burned out too. I rarely bought into ridiculous deadlines, because you will only deliver garbage and extend the time. Quality counts. You have to stand your ground; you can't put 10 pounds of rocks into a 5 pound bag.

I've found it is all about the company; you have to find a fit. If and when you do, stay there. Don't let someone waving a check make you jump jobs; you just might be very sorry. When I interviewed at Novellus, I told my manager, "I never want to look for another job as long as I live." I was there 17 years and would have ended my career there if not for the Lam merge (buyout). And no, it was not always a walk in the park.

There is no fair. I am glad your daughter found what works for her. That's what's important.
 
I haven't worked at any place where I was expected to work 60 hours a week continuously. Even at startups. That's a sure way to complete burnout. I do remember one place I worked that started with a startup culture as a division that was purchased by a larger company. A lot of my coworkers tended to show up fairly late and stayed fairly late. There was also dinner. I started working similar hours because I thought that was the culture. But after a while, my manager was telling me it wasn't really needed now that this was at an established company with no equity stake. After a while the dinners ended and most workers started coming in to work 9 to 6.

Of course, extra hours might be expected when there's a deadline approaching. But in my experience this was balanced with the flexibility to leave earlier when there wasn't so much pressure.
 
And few of those very hard-working folks have what it takes to truly succeed in the tech startup world, hence the disparity in compensation. Not a judgement or disparagement at all, just a fact. Different skillsets and abilities.

Startups often pay less than working for an established company with a better work/life balance. They'll typically have cash flow issues. But the key is the possibility of hitting the jackpot with an equity stake.

I've worked at startups. I had a job offer from one that was temporarily pulled because of funding issues. The CEO was constantly hustling to get more funding. And sometimes it really sucks when the tools that a startup can afford are limited. When I've worked with large companies, we were never, ever struggling to have adequate seat licenses for design tools. At startups there might have been limited licenses where we had to schedule who was going to use the tool at a given time.
 
Startups often pay less than working for an established company with a better work/life balance. They'll typically have cash flow issues. But the key is the possibility of hitting the jackpot with an equity stake.

I've worked at startups. I had a job offer from one that was temporarily pulled because of funding issues. The CEO was constantly hustling to get more funding. And sometimes it really sucks when the tools that a startup can afford are limited. When I've worked with large companies, we were never, ever struggling to have adequate seat licenses for design tools. At startups there might have been limited licenses where we had to schedule who was going to use the tool at a given time.
Or find a way around one user/license...I once wrote a check to MSFT for getting caught, expensive but less than the licenses all those years;)
 
Jeff, the gaming sector was universally poorly managed she said. Gaming was full of the stereotypical socially dysfunctional nerdy high IQ male (her husband was one) who are at their best off by themselves writing code all day and night. When those guys get promoted they don't have the skills to manage people and timelines. She didn't agree to impossible deadlines, she'd tell her boss what was possible and when and would deliver. She was organized and knew her people's strengths and used them. They didn't have to work the extreme extra hours other teams did because they got their work done, her team loved her, other teams and leaders didn't. Other leaders asked why she got to take her team out to lunch, they shut up when told she paid for it not the company. She didn't get high enough to get the perks you and @slo town mentioned. At her last company that was Chinese owned they wanted her to go to China to help launch a new game but she left before that happened. She should have gone a different direction in the industry.
 
Or find a way around one user/license...I once wrote a check to MSFT for getting caught, expensive but less than the licenses all those years;)

Oh - I remember ways around it. Nothing illegal nor that technically violated the terms of the license. But one where they could theoretically close the loophole if they found out how we were using the license.
 
Ahhh the tech boom. I was a Divisional Controller at the time with a high flying tech company, and was once asked to hide, "bury" the cost of a couple golf carts that somehow became submarines at a Sales event, apparently topless caddies were involved as was a downhill race. Small change in my overall budget, but a big favor to have in my pocket:cool: Good times, good times indeed.

I loved our time in Silicon Valley as coming from the Mass tech culture, the work culture was similar but the weather was, well California, not Massachusetts. What I did appreciate, was the overall culture of meritocracy. Maybe that has changed somewhat, but I felt it was and is the land of opportunity.
THIS! kind of stuff does indeed happen in Silicon Valley!

Scott
 
Just like you mentioned your wife in another thread was a NICU nurse….. very difficult job.
Yep, that's my Sue!

Although off topic, here is the link to that thread. Not only am I proud of her, but those who posted on the thread found the story enjoyable reading. So here it is again.

Two things; imagine helping a woman deliver twins in L&D - only to realize the mother delivering the twins was a premature twin that Sue took care of back in the '80s (in NICU). And then there was Jake. Sue will never forget Jake.

Scott

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...r-30-year-nursing-career.356478/#post-6156143
 
Jeff, the gaming sector was universally poorly managed she said. Gaming was full of the stereotypical socially dysfunctional nerdy high IQ male (her husband was one) who are at their best off by themselves writing code all day and night. When those guys get promoted they don't have the skills to manage people and timelines. She didn't agree to impossible deadlines, she'd tell her boss what was possible and when and would deliver. She was organized and knew her people's strengths and used them. They didn't have to work the extreme extra hours other teams did because they got their work done, her team loved her, other teams and leaders didn't. Other leaders asked why she got to take her team out to lunch, they shut up when told she paid for it not the company. She didn't get high enough to get the perks you and @slo town mentioned. At her last company that was Chinese owned they wanted her to go to China to help launch a new game but she left before that happened. She should have gone a different direction in the industry.
That, in my experience, is the biggest barrier to success in Silicon Valley. Perhaps everywhere? While some succeed, technical workers are generally not management potential. People Peter Principal out and hurt a lotta people along the way. They take the position for the $$ and title. And become miserable, often quit or are asked to leave. Most were productive, valued contributors before taking on the new role.

I was asked to manage numerous times; luckily I said no, but I will work with those people. I did take a lead role in the 3 year SAP implementation project. More help came in, but I was not the right person for the job. It was brutal. I hate SAP.
 
That, in my experience, is the biggest barrier to success in Silicon Valley. Perhaps everywhere? While some succeed, technical workers are generally not management potential. People Peter Principal out and hurt a lotta people along the way. They take the position for the $$ and title. And become miserable, often quit or are asked to leave. Most were productive, valued contributors before taking on the new role.

I’ve seen my fair share of people who were formerly managers but who later returned to being individual contributors.

One time I interviewed for a job, and it was a company where I had worked as a third-party contractor through an “implementation partner”. The first person to interview me (remotely) said some niceties, and said he met me before but I didn’t recognize him. He asked me who I remembered from my time there, and I rattled off a few names. Then I asked his name, and when he said it, his was one of the names I gave. I said something about feeling a bit stupid, but his appearance had changed, and I didn’t look in the corner where his name was displayed. He was one of the managers I reported to during my contract stint, but he was no longer in management. I didn’t press him on it, but I suspect he’s like a lot of people who got tired of having to manage people rather than do the dirty work.
 
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