[echelon]

> From what I heard from friends, it was a great place to work.

Not in the scheme of things, especially with regard to comp. Plus, they had a shitty PHP stack that was a spaghetti web.

I desperately tried to convince my Atlanta Mailchimp friends to quit and join me at a pre-IPO company. No takers. After our IPO, I made a life changing amount. Enough to retire before 30. They got paltry "bonuses" every year.

Mailchimp had some weird cool aid that made people like working there despite there being plenty of better alternatives. I just wish I could have convinced my friends to leave.

[Aeolun]

Working at a company that actually makes and pays cash is better in all ways than a pre-IPO startup that might potentially go that route and earn you some money then.

A company can just be a great place to work. No cool aid necessary.

[echelon]

My salary alone was better than Mailchimp comp. SF wages in Atlanta. Plus, we were already unicorn status and growing rapidly.

It would have been a solid choice.

[Aeolun]

That’s possible, and probably a better idea if you’re optimizing for comp.

But there’s a lot to be said for staying to work at a company you love and enjoy, especially if your compensation is already enough for a very comfortable life.

[olau]

This may come as a shock to you, but for most people life is not just about money.

[aniforprez]

What a non sequitur

[ethbr0]

My read was that founders were self-taught coders, and that describes the friends who worked there as well.

Imposter syndrome is a bitch, when there's always someone better than you out there, so there's probably a lot of Kool Aid in making people feel like they've made it, are part of the tech party, and are valued employees.

And working customer-facing is always a cooler cocktail party gig than being a master of the universe behind the curtain at Oz. For some.

Different folks optimize for different things. I doubt they'd turn down you buying the next round of drinks, and for some people... that's enough.