The conversation

lovichHNSource author
Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

> I spent most of my career working in companies with <50 employees I’ve worked for 3 companies …

> I spent most of my career working in companies with <50 employees I’ve worked for 3 companies like that. It was really great if your views aligned with the founder. If they didn’t, you got fucked. I really enjoyed when a bunch of juniors were fired the day before Christmas because the founder heard them discussing the latest movies they watched and decided that they had bad opinions and shouldn’t work at his company since he’d be embarrassed if his peers heard their tastes. Not hyperbole, direct statements. We referred to it as the Red Christmas at the time. I believe you got lucky, I don’t find your advice actionable.

Original discussionApple Is Fighting for TSMC Capacity as Nvidia Takes Center Stage478 source comments · at import
2

What was this responding to?

Parent context · original excerpt

MA
marcus_holmesHN

Find a small company with a founder who loves their team and wants them to be happy. They exist, I assure you. They're not even rare. I spent most of my career working in companies with <50 employees, and only hit a couple of unpleasant founders. The few large companies that I worked in were always bureaucratic nightmares by comparison. Small companies won't pay FAANG salaries, but they also won't make you feel like a meaningless cog in a vast unsympathetic, unproductive, machine.

Full original

Community replies 0

No community replies yet. Add your perspective.

Replies from the source 2

Direct replies available in this import. Original-language excerpts.

MA
marcus_holmesHN

I've had a couple of experiences like yours, yeah, it can be a matter of finding the right founder. I'm sorry you don't find it actionable. Please continue doing whatever you're doing now that is working for you.

Full original
LI
lII1lIlI11llHN

> a bunch of juniors were fired the day before Christmas because the founder heard them discussing the latest movies they watched and decided that they had bad opinions and shouldn’t work at his company since he’d be embarrassed if his peers heard their tastes. Just out of curiosity, was it something despicable like them liking Marvel movies? Or more akin to disagreeing whether Eyes Wide Shut could be considered a good Kubrick movie?

Full original
Continue on Hacker News

Respect different perspectives. Share concrete experiences.

Sign in to post, reply, repost, and quote.