[tptacek]

No, you're not competing with them. AmaGooBookSoft hires, to a first approximation, only pedigreed developers with their AKC papers in hand. They're competing for a limited supply of those developers.

But, in fact, a mutt developer you rescue from the dev pound catches a ball just as well, and may in fact be more healthy than the purebreds that Google is hiring.

You know this has to be true, because outside of AmaGooBookSoft (actually: pretty much just GooBook), nobody makes those wages anyways. Even accounting for the (wildly optimistic) company projections for equity value.

[IronKettle]

> AmaGooBookSoft hires, to a first approximation, only pedigreed developers with their AKC papers in hand.

I think that is a very outdated view of those companies. IME at least, you've described Google's hiring process pretty accurately but are fairly incorrect about the rest.

In particular, Amazon is hiring like crazy [1]. Even back when I graduated, Amazon was known for being a place that was easy to get into if you were willing to stomach the sometimes-insane workload (which still pales in comparison to some startup sweatshop horror stories).

Again, I didn't graduate from a program with much name recognition and AmaGooAppleFaceSoft still snatched up 45% of my graduating class.

> (actually: pretty much just GooBook)

I'm not sure why you're only including those two.

Amazon share prices have quintupled over the last 5 years. If you were compensated with RSUs you've done very well for yourself.

I know several MS software engineers who were (very recently) paid roughly $150K + $100K in equity each of their first four years (admittedly after attaining their Master's, though I'm not sure how much it helped).

1: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/search?offset=0&result_limit=10&s...

[mbesto]

> No, you're not competing with them.

Sorry, but I have first hand experience on multiple occasions in the bay area that say otherwise. I'll take my anecdata and disprove your anecdata.

As a long time HN'r myself, I really appreciate the comments you add to discussions, but telling people "you are not X" will make it difficult to get your point across. Not to mention, you don't even live/work here. How are you so comfortable postulating on something you don't have direct experience with?

[tptacek]

I'm being imprecise. Obviously, a lot of SFBA tech startups recruiting developers to implement solutions on extremely well-trodden technical ground are, in fact, trying to compete with Google for the same pool of developers. But that's irrational, and they should stop.

[user5994461]

They don't compete. Good developers who can get a job at the big 4 get a job at the big 4.

Small companies get people who couldn't go to Google or who are ignorant about compensation and perks.

Eventually, people grow up and learn, then they flee to the big 4 if they can.

[pcwalton]

Oh, come on. This kind of silly overgeneralization is more than a little bit insulting to me, my coworkers, and a heck of a lot of other people.

I could have gone to the "big four" a long time ago, and I turned them down. I've never regretted my decision. I've done incredibly fulfilling work here and couldn't imagine working with a more talented group.