[marssaxman]

So easy relative to what, I wonder? I was slotted into a team which was neither fun nor anything I am into, and never managed to transfer. They said my manager wouldn't be able to block me from transferring, but he did so anyway, and I ended up leaving Google. There was nothing about the process which felt like it was any easier or less political than what I've seen at other megacorporations.

[humbledrone]

Well, easy relative to a startup which has just one engineering role (wear all the hats). In the startup world, changing roles generally means going through the interview process at a new company, starting over on seniority, vesting schedules, etc.

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience at Google. It is a large company, so I don't doubt that there are dusty corners with bad management. But I've seen a pretty broad cross-section of the company and find most of it to be quite great in terms of mobility.