TheDom

I recently discovered Kanopy and was surprised by the amount of A-tier movies you can stream there for free with a library membership (SFPL in my case)!

Just the standard advice: It's usually much easier to switch into a new role (MLE, manager,...) at your existing company than landing those roles directly at a new company. So if your current employer does not employ any MLEs, consider joining another company that does– but apply for a role you're currently well qualified for, and then try to make the switch internally. Consider being up-front about that in the hiring process to get signal on how supportive a company is.

It only talks about the business perspective, sorry!

One of my favorite genres!

Any book by Steven Levy is great, he is the master! He wrote multiple books about Apple, and also about Google, Facebook,…

Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris

The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph (Netflix Cofounder)

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards

Their packaging is also careless! They have ruined so many books I ordered, and I am now buying most from other online stores instead (even though they are often more expensive).

Not necessarily, the market is very competitive here. But to get to $500k TC as an IC (<= L5), your company will have to do well to increase the value of your grants by ~50-100%. But that is not uncommon or unrealistic.

It's not a terrible deal, ISOs can be very advantageous from a tax perspective.

Absolutely, I like it a lot!

I am from Austria and moved here 2.5 years ago. In between I lived in Dublin, Ireland for 1.5 years (can't recommend unless you like rain).

The main reason I moved to SF and why I also see myself here for the foreseeable future is the job market. No other place in the world can match the density of exciting tech companies of the SF Bay Area.

I LOVE my job but if I would not, then there would be tons of other interesting companies I could work for. If you’re a good engineer, then you can basically choose which company to work for (assuming you’re good at the interviewing game). Recruiters reach out all the time, and over time you will also build up a network of friends at other companies.

All these exciting opportunities attract great talent from all over, and companies try hard to attract and retain that talent. It’s a lot of fun to work on a strong team!

The other thing that’s fairly unique to the Bay Area is the high total compensation for engineers. Based on what I hear and read, I would assume that the TC for a regular engineer with a few years of experience is at least $300k on average. AFAIK that’s impossible to find outside of the US, and only in a few other places inside the US (Seattle, NYC). Also, since the Bay Area is home to a lot of fast growing companies, the potential financial upside is huge if you're lucky enough to choose such a company!

The best advice I can give is to choose the company you work for carefully. Ensure the business has the right trajectory, the hiring bar is high, and the compensation is fair.

The city itself has been discussed here and elsewhere extensively. I agree with many of the points but overall I quite enjoy it. I live in a nice neighborhood (Inner Sunset) and for me the job market far outweighs the downsides of living here. At the moment I can not imagine moving back to Europe.

In the end, it depends on what you’re looking for and which set of trade offs is the right one for you.

A 6 year vesting schedule would be highly unusual. AFAIK it’s usually 2 (or maybe up to 4) years after an acquisition. Therefore I don’t think that this was a factor in his decision.

I am from Austria, and just want to say that this assessment matches my own experience. Sadly I don't have an explanation for it either. I moved away 4 years ago but that's one of the many cultural reasons why I don't miss Austria much.

AFAIK it's at least not unusual. It e.g. also pauses at Salesforce.

Asana: 16 weeks for either gender to be taken in the first year following birth or adoption. The leave can be split into two parts (e.g. 2+14, 8+8).

Full salary and benefits but vesting is paused.