[ascendantlogic]

From the company's perspective it's always a game of getting maximum effort/value for minimum price. From the employee's perspective it's the exact opposite: maximum price for minimum effort/value. If they can dangle that carrot in front of you and get you to give 110% at your current pay scale for 1-2 more years then why the hell wouldn't they do it? And how many people grind away on that treadmill after having that conversation with their boss? For every post like this there's gotta be hundreds if not thousands of people at these big companies that put their noses back to the grindstone to keep chasing that promotion.

To be sure I'm not downplaying your commentary. It's extremely illuminative and very well written. After almost 20 years in the industry I've learned the burning truth of it all, though. Loyalty to individuals is worthwhile. Loyalty to companies is meaningless. Be earnest and caring in your interactions with individual coworkers but feel nothing as you squeeze every drop you can out of the company because that's exactly what they're trying to do to you.

[s73v3r_]

"If they can dangle that carrot in front of you and get you to give 110% at your current pay scale for 1-2 more years then why the hell wouldn't they do it?"

Cause that's a shitty thing to do. And, as shown, it leads to people leaving.

[ascendantlogic]

Yes, (most) people care that it's a shitty thing to do, but again companies like this do not. Their goal is to grind as much productivity out of you for as cheap as possible. It sounds fatalistic but it's just how it is. Romanticizing things just leads to heartbreak.

EDIT: Note I said "companies like this". There are clearly companies that are run at the top by compassionate, non-shitty people and those values filter down through the org. However, as companies get larger and especially once they are beholden to investors and ESPECIALLY when they are beholden to public investors that seems to die a gradual death.

[NeoBasilisk]

doesn't matter when there is always a fresh new grad who doesn't know any better waiting to take your place

[olleromam91]

Would be nice if 22-24 yr olds weren't the majority of people building the infrastructure of the free world though =/

[martinraag]

I can see that now and completely agree, but back then - much like the author of the original post, I was eating up the whole idea of being more than just an employee, of all of us being in it for a larger goal.

In fact, it took me another couple of years, and witnessing that the grass is no greener in the startup world, to finally come to this conclusion.

Even though I have come to terms with this, I have not really been able to completely adapt yet. Which is why, again much like the author, I have currently landed on working for myself. I do miss working on more ambitious projects with bigger teams, that a job like that enables, but for now, I have no interest in playing the game to achieve my career goals.