[paulcole]

Let’s get real here.

There’s like 550 NBA players. There’s what, like 10,000 engineers at Google alone?

A person who leetcodes their way to Amazon isn’t in the same universe of comparative-skill-level as the 11th man on an NBA bench.

[VirusNewbie]

Yes, it's note as competitive as the NBA, the minimum NBA salary is over 5x what the 'minimum' FAANG salary is.

None the less I think it gets the point across that just because you can program doesn't mean you can work at a FAANG. Similarly, just because you're good enough to play high school varsity doesn't mean you can get to the NBA.

[paulcole]

> None the less I think it gets the point across that just because you can program doesn't mean you can work at a FAANG.

This is orders of magnitude less true than the high school varsity and NBA comparison.

If someone can program well enough to be paid by someone to do it and is driven enough, I’d bet that they can get a FAANG offer at some point in their lives. Most people will fail at the drive part.

There is no level of drive that allows 99.9% of high school varsity starters to take off their warmups at a D1 university program, let alone the NBA. It will never ever ever ever happen.

[itsankur]

So if it isn't drive, than that really only leaves: - genetics - coaching/enviornment?

Basically, you are born with the required genetics + surrounded with the right coaching from a very early age or you won't get into the NBA right?

Are there other factors you think contribute? What percentage weight would you put on each factor if you had to guess.

I think you're likely correct here. There's definitely exceptions to this, but those exceptions fit into the 99.9% figure you have here.

[VirusNewbie]

sure, fine, substitute NBA with L8 at FAANG or something. Now, I stll think you're either in FAANG (or somewhere more exclusive?) and surrounded by very talented people and over extrapolating to the general programmer population, or making assumptions never having worked there.

There are a lot of engineers that cannot pass even basic warmup questions and probably never will be able to.

[itsankur]

L8 might be apt, but honestly human brains are far more fluid and dynamic than human limb length. You can train your brain to do remarkable things it couldn't do before remarkably fast. You just can't train your limbs to be a foot longer.

Aka, I'd argue that elon musk drive gives you a greater chance to become an L8 engineer, where as elon musk drive may make you an NBA player, but at a significantly lower chance.