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Tim Raines IRL posted:Speaking as someone whose cool fun start-up employer is in the process of getting acquired by a giant boring company, this thread doesn't exactly fill me with optimism but I'm glad I've been reading it for a while. At some point the company will trade all the perks for more MBAs who will then parasitize everything they can for performance bonuses.
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May 30, 2016 23:55
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Tim Raines IRL posted:Speaking as someone whose cool fun start-up employer is in the process of getting acquired by a giant boring company, this thread doesn't exactly fill me with optimism but I'm glad I've been reading it for a while. Random question: cool fun Virginia startup that's really into ping pong?
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May 31, 2016 00:10
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uninterrupted posted:Random question: cool fun Virginia startup that's really into ping pong? Could be. Are you one of my comrades in arms? I'm actually more optimistic than my previous post might imply; this will be an instructive experience, and the next year should be interesting, assuming i still have a job in a month. Edit: integrating or trying to integrate some of the things I've worked on into an ecosystem four times larger, also seems interesting.
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May 31, 2016 00:20
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uninterrupted posted:Random question: cool fun Virginia startup that's really into ping pong? Braintree here in Chicago seems to have done well enough under Paypal but Oracle..ouch.
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May 31, 2016 00:27
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If I ever create a startup, it's not going to have any of these silly, wasteful amenities that are meant to have you overstay at the office. Work 9-5ish, more if there's crunch time, spend time with your family and friends. Maybe a console in the break room for when you want to clear your head.
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May 31, 2016 00:30
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Tim Raines IRL posted:Could be. Are you one of my comrades in arms? I am. Although I'm just kinda pumped because I've never been in a big company. Also cubicles are way better than open offices; it feels like everyone's looking over my back. Fingers crossed we don't end up having to commute to Reston.
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May 31, 2016 00:31
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uninterrupted posted:I am. Ha. Small world! I'm the person in web who draws cats and tells bad puns and orders food for our floor. You should swing by our pod and ask me if I have stairs in my house or something; that hasn't happened since my first job out of college. I tried to move this to pm but I guess you don't have plat? I've worked for larger orgs, but never on the scale of where we're headed. It should be a hell of a ride. Good to know there's another SA person around.
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May 31, 2016 00:40
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Absurd Alhazred posted:If I ever create a startup, it's not going to have any of these silly, wasteful amenities that are meant to have you overstay at the office. Work 9-5ish, more if there's crunch time, spend time with your family and friends. Maybe a console in the break room for when you want to clear your head. It's all what you make of it. I've had those sweet amenities for four years, and generally kept to 40 hours, as have the majority of my direct co-workers. I do think that having all that nice stuff has been a differentiator that has helped attract and retain interesting, talented people. So, if you get lucky, you can have all these things. This is my fifth job out of college and the only one with weekly catered lunches and massages. It's certainly not the only place that I've had awesome co-workers with a sense of purpose, but previous places I'd say that about, are all NPOs. I care a lot more about working with great people on interesting problems than I do about shoulder rubs, but the latter certainly hasn't hurt my morale...
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May 31, 2016 00:48
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I know of a company that has all of the above but also mandatory 8-6 in office working hours, just saying.
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May 31, 2016 00:52
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Gail Wynand posted:I know of a company that has all of the above but also mandatory 8-6 in office working hours, just saying. Can you take a nap from 1-3 everyday though? Cause I def would.
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May 31, 2016 03:33
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Asimov posted:Very cool video. Although I don't know much about eagles or drones, I get the feeling that a larger craft would chew up any bird that tried to grab it. Maybe there is a technique that allows grasping of the drone body while avoiding all the rotors, but unless the eagle is throwing a net or using a fancier trick than I just watched, I think the blades of a medium sized drone would do serious damage to a living creature. When I built my first drone, something hosed up in the autopilot and it started up when I was about to switch its battery. Needed like ~11 stitches across 2 fingers, and that was just from a glancing hit from a single prop. Actually, I guess it could have been better if it hit my hand directly, since it would have stopped the blade completely (not that much momentum with standard nylon blades), but still--those things can easily injure a person, so I'm not sure how they won't gently caress up a bird.
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May 31, 2016 03:39
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Coolness Averted posted:Yeah there's a weird obsession with being at the desk over tasks. I have a friend who works at the US subsidiary of a rather big Japanese corporation and their culture is a bit wonky. He came from a company that was more flexible about what 40 meant, like staying late to get something out the door Thursday meant it was okay to leave a bit early Friday if your plate was empty. Since he's in the US the expectation is more 40 hours than 80 at least, but yeah they're all about 'This is the start time, this is the end time, be here 5 days a week in that window. We don't care what you're doing as long as you're here. The company at least seems decently loyal, though they practically disappear folks when they do fire them. Japanese companies are super into face time, which is why they want you ask your desk. For instance the NA President of Honda doesn't have an office, he has a desk as far as you can get to the door but everyone working in his giant open office space which is full of managers and assistants can see what he's doing. It creates a weird corporate culture. Also the liaisons are always poo poo but if you are a webioo that wants a job that pays really will but you will never get promoted from it's a good job to get.
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May 31, 2016 04:08
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So I know this thread is about bad startups, but I work for a good one. Are there resources for recent ML phds (which is me) or similar academic folks who are trying to not be huge idiots about salaries and stock options and things? I'm four months into this job, and outside my specialty, I know precisely jack poo poo about business and finance.
a foolish pianist fucked around with this message at 04:51 on May 31, 2016 |
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May 31, 2016 04:46
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Tim Raines IRL posted:It's cool, though. I knew the catered massages wouldn't last forever, and, fingers crossed this whole deal should let me pay off the last of our student debt and move someplace beautiful. gently caress, though... I guess I have to get another real job, eventually. Unless our chill, fun culture survives assimilation, because that happens sometimes, right? Right???? lol, nope. Maaaaybe if you got bought by Google or Facebook your culture would survive. Otherwise, it's basically a 2-year countdown until everything goes to poo poo. A lot of the visionaries and top talent will probably hit the door the day the lockup ends, and the rest of the A-talent will be out the door as soon as the retention bonuses dry up. In the meantime, the poo poo talent will move up because they have "institutional knowledge" and the acquiring company won't yet know what to do with you. Also the assholes and people with a natural disposition to office politics will have a field day interfacing with the corporate mothership. The changes will start slowly -- shifting over to old, lovely internal systems, inscrutable policy messages from corp. HR -- then accelerate rapidly. Milk this time for everything you can. Treat it like a 6-24 month severance package.
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May 31, 2016 04:53
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a foolish pianist posted:So I know this thread is about bad startups, but I work for a good one. Are there resources for recent ML phds (which is me) or similar academic folks who are trying to not be huge idiots about salaries and stock options and things? I'm four months into this job, and outside my specialty, I know precisely jack poo poo about business and finance. SAL (the DND subforum) would be a good place to start. I know there's a poster, Sol Terasa, who's involved with ML stuff though I think he's on the academic side.
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May 31, 2016 05:02
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a foolish pianist posted:So I know this thread is about bad startups, but I work for a good one. Are there resources for recent ML phds (which is me) or similar academic folks who are trying to not be huge idiots about salaries and stock options and things? I'm four months into this job, and outside my specialty, I know precisely jack poo poo about business and finance.
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May 31, 2016 06:24
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A Man With A Plan posted:Can you take a nap from 1-3 everyday though? Cause I def would.
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May 31, 2016 06:26
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a foolish pianist posted:So I know this thread is about bad startups, but I work for a good one. Are there resources for recent ML phds (which is me) or similar academic folks who are trying to not be huge idiots about salaries and stock options and things? I'm four months into this job, and outside my specialty, I know precisely jack poo poo about business and finance. Post in https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3246449 please. IIRC poster 'the talent deficit' is looking for ML people to work for a place in Vancouver which is a beautiful place to live, btw Absurd Alhazred posted:If I ever create a startup, it's not going to have any of these silly, wasteful amenities that are meant to have you overstay at the office. Work 9-5ish, more if there's crunch time, spend time with your family and friends. Maybe a console in the break room for when you want to clear your head. I've already decided that My Headcanon Startup would be a 32-hour week = full-time place with three weeks mandatory vacation standard, but lol at the idea of me making that kind of leap 
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May 31, 2016 06:51
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cowofwar posted:At some point the company will trade all the perks for more MBAs who will then parasitize everything they can for performance bonuses. what's weird about my degree is that i'm about to graduate with a focus in ethics and all my classes have hammered home empathy nonstop the only ideas i have about loving over people for my own short-term gain have come from this thread and the corporate thread in bfc
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May 31, 2016 07:24
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Absurd Alhazred posted:If I ever create a startup, it's not going to have any of these silly, wasteful amenities that are meant to have you overstay at the office. Work 9-5ish, more if there's crunch time, spend time with your family and friends. Maybe a console in the break room for when you want to clear your head. You should manage it so there is no crunch time. Crunch time is a sign of bad management and why would you want that??
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May 31, 2016 07:27
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Charlie Mopps posted:You should manage it so there is no crunch time. Crunch time is a sign of bad management and why would you want that?? eliyahu goldratt spins webs through my mind
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May 31, 2016 07:34
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Aliquid posted:what's weird about my degree is that i'm about to graduate with a focus in ethics and all my classes have hammered home empathy nonstop I demand my cut 
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May 31, 2016 07:42
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Absurd Alhazred posted:If I ever create a startup, it's not going to have any of these silly, wasteful amenities that are meant to have you overstay at the office. Work 9-5ish, more if there's crunch time, spend time with your family and friends. Maybe a console in the break room for when you want to clear your head. when i'm all grown up ...  every firm begins like that. obviously. tech startups run into the retarded work culture problem because founders typically have to endure one-two years of psychological hell to get it in the air. it really fucks up their anchor point for what constitutes a reasonable amount of work and personal investment in a job, ever so slightly, one day at a time. it'd happen to you too.
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May 31, 2016 07:50
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Aliquid posted:what's weird about my degree is that i'm about to graduate with a focus in ethics and all my classes have hammered home empathy nonstop so you have no real life business experience? because this is  as gently caress
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May 31, 2016 07:59
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The Real Foogla posted:so you have no real life business experience? because this is nope! i was principal of an elementary school so it is literal i managed a holiday inn in college but lol
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May 31, 2016 08:03
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Charlie Mopps posted:You should manage it so there is no crunch time. Crunch time is a sign of bad management and why would you want that?? Because performance bonuses to executives and management for delivering early are a thing, and if your workforce is disposable you can drive it like you stole it to make your money then buy a new one for the next title.
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May 31, 2016 12:21
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Aliquid posted:what's weird about my degree is that i'm about to graduate with a focus in ethics and all my classes have hammered home empathy nonstop https://moz.com/about/tagfee
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May 31, 2016 14:14
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Charlie Mopps posted:You should manage it so there is no crunch time. Crunch time is a sign of bad management and why would you want that?? Crunch time is a failure of project management, but failures happen. Especially in a startup when you're dealing with the unfamiliar. I'd pay overtime for it, though. Also, European levels of annual paid vacation. 
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May 31, 2016 14:33
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If you're on the old-fashioned cycle where there are actually discrete releases, I think crunch time with comp time afterward is fine. It's like finals week -- work like mad, then vacation. It's crunch time that lasts for months (or is permanent) that's obscene.
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May 31, 2016 15:09
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The issue is that you always have that one manager or executive that starts thinking "wait, hey we can have people work 90 hour weeks from time to time? Why don't we do that all the time?" It also doesn't help that there just never seems to be enough developers around, ever. Competent programmers are never, ever, ever cheap and software development isn't a fast process at all so of course you also have execs saying "hey how do we get more out of these super expensive guys we're paying?"
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May 31, 2016 16:23
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Arsenic Lupin posted:If you're on the old-fashioned cycle where there are actually discrete releases, I think crunch time with comp time afterward is fine. It's like finals week -- work like mad, then vacation. It's crunch time that lasts for months (or is permanent) that's obscene. Yeah, I was rolling my eyes at the talk of 'crunch time is a sign of poor management' but realized I was thinking more of 'There's a spike in sales at end of year,' or 'almost every regulator wants reports filed March - May.' I wasn't thinking of the unsustainable unicorn and tech sector world, or other project based 'we can grind these employees into the dirt since they're probably not gonna be here in 5 years and I sure as hell won't be!' environments.
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May 31, 2016 16:36
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Kobayashi posted:lol, nope. Maaaaybe if you got bought by Google or Facebook your culture would survive. Otherwise, it's basically a 2-year countdown until everything goes to poo poo. A lot of the visionaries and top talent will probably hit the door the day the lockup ends, and the rest of the A-talent will be out the door as soon as the retention bonuses dry up. In the meantime, the poo poo talent will move up because they have "institutional knowledge" and the acquiring company won't yet know what to do with you. Also the assholes and people with a natural disposition to office politics will have a field day interfacing with the corporate mothership. The changes will start slowly -- shifting over to old, lovely internal systems, inscrutable policy messages from corp. HR -- then accelerate rapidly. Milk this time for everything you can. Treat it like a 6-24 month severance package.
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May 31, 2016 18:22
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Absurd Alhazred posted:Also, European levels of annual paid vacation. More than anything else, this is why I'd never move back to North America.
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May 31, 2016 18:40
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Munkeymon posted:Post in https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3246449 please. IIRC poster 'the talent deficit' is looking for ML people to work for a place in Vancouver which is a beautiful place to live, btw Do not move to Vancouver unless you want to enjoy the worlds most rear end-rapey overpriced housing market. This is a real listing from Vancouver right now http://www.point2homes.com/CA/Home-For-Sale/BC/Vancouver/Sunset/495-E-61ST-AVENUE/26130115.html
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May 31, 2016 19:03
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Arsenic Lupin posted:If you're on the old-fashioned cycle where there are actually discrete releases, I think crunch time with comp time afterward is fine. It's like finals week -- work like mad, then vacation. It's crunch time that lasts for months (or is permanent) that's obscene. Problem is that if you have crunch time to get a release out on schedule, then it isn't vacation time after the release but instead it is crunch time again to fix all of the terrible crap that gone done wrong in a hurry at the last minute to meet the schedule. Fixing all of the stuff leaves you behind schedule for the next release and therefore your have to start release crunch time even earlier than before.
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May 31, 2016 19:14
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sbaldrick posted:Do not move to Vancouver unless you want to enjoy the worlds most rear end-rapey overpriced housing market. Housing pricing is just hosed in general in North America as a whole. That doesn't really surprise me. Which makes me very sad.
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May 31, 2016 19:25
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sbaldrick posted:Do not move to Vancouver unless you want to enjoy the worlds most rear end-rapey overpriced housing market. Considering the Canadian Funbucks exchange rate, that's about half as bad as London. At most.
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May 31, 2016 19:40
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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sbaldrick posted:Do not move to Vancouver unless you want to enjoy the worlds most rear end-rapey overpriced housing market. So how far do people have to drive to even get affordable rent?
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May 31, 2016 19:46
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blowfish posted:Considering the Canadian Funbucks exchange rate, that's about half as bad as London. At most. At last count its more expensive then London as per the economist.
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May 31, 2016 19:54
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I hear a lot of land was just opened up around Ft. McMurray
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