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FAANG tales: From a failed startup guy
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4 points
by faangtales
2007 days ago
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My startup failed in 2019 and I found myself in the job market. I failed an Airbnb interview in Nov 2019 & I realized I wasn't thorough enough with Leetcode. Crammed the damn thing and got a dev job at FAANG. Here are some of my observations:
1. Once your startup fails, for any recruiter at FAANG (and hyper growth YC companies), you are basically an unemployed engineer. 2. All the "skills" you acquired at your startup 1)Trying to "make something that people want" 2) Haggling with that procurement dude @ Fortune 500 (for that $10K MRR contract) 3)Redlining contracts....don't matter. The only thing that matters is: How much of Leetcode do you know?
3. Most successful (FAANG + hyper growth YC) companies have "referral networks". Hard to get in without those.
4. 1 year at FAANG now and I realize that the money is very good, BUT one has to keep their head down, forget about your exciting startup life (dont bring it up with your co-workers either...cos you will not fit in)
5. I can now understand the plight of Marines who return from war and try to enter civilian life (to be sure, not trying to compare my situation with them).
6. Life at FAANG is easy. Just need punt that damn Sev2 to another team (so you can enjoy the weekend). May be the sales skills acquired at my startup are being used here after all.
7. Sometimes, my problem solving itch will kick in and I will go above and beyond to solve that Sev2 and co-workers get surprised when I submit a PR in another team's code. Startups are essentially problem solving exercises and its hard to simply pretend to not have that desire.
8. It is ironic that these companies are so successful with so much busy work going on, but as a startup founder one has to jump through hoops to close a $1K deal. Doesn't seem fair, but I guess that's life.
9. As a recovering startup guy, I spend my weekends re-reading PG essays and watching YC videos (& thinking about the mistakes that led to my startup's demise). Cheers! |
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