New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: How to find companies that build sustainably?
Ask HN: How to find companies that build sustainably?
9 by bckr | 8 comments on Hacker News.
This is going to be a very cynical post. If you just want to sneer at me, please just save us both some time and skip it. My current position has left me questioning much of what I thought about my career, tech industry, and business. The philosophy here boils down to: "We need to move extremely fast. Why? Because there's no moat, and competitors will eat us alive, eventually. Therefore, we have to build the crappiest thing we can as fast as possible and make enumerable business promises that we don't have the human capacity to keep. Therefore, the only people who will survive at this company will be those who don't really care that what they're building is setting up the next person for a world of pain. Everyone who wants to do a truly good job will burn out and/or be pushed out. But we'll keep attracting starry-eyed talent by puffing ourselves up as this incredible, smart organization (that, for now, is making money)." The thing is, I chose this situation based on what I thought a successful company looks like. Now, I want to work somewhere: 1) That has slack built in. 2) That gives a damn about system quality. 3) That can grow without overreaching (see point 1). Does this type of company even exist? I feel like even if it does, I'm blind to it because my head has been in this "uber-lean startup" space and I almost can't believe anything else exists. It seems like, if something isn't trying to grow at breakneck speed, it is stagnating or dying. I want to believe this isn't the case. Have you found a place in this world that grows sustainably? If so, how, and do you think I can replicate the search strategy? Thanks.
9 by bckr | 8 comments on Hacker News.
This is going to be a very cynical post. If you just want to sneer at me, please just save us both some time and skip it. My current position has left me questioning much of what I thought about my career, tech industry, and business. The philosophy here boils down to: "We need to move extremely fast. Why? Because there's no moat, and competitors will eat us alive, eventually. Therefore, we have to build the crappiest thing we can as fast as possible and make enumerable business promises that we don't have the human capacity to keep. Therefore, the only people who will survive at this company will be those who don't really care that what they're building is setting up the next person for a world of pain. Everyone who wants to do a truly good job will burn out and/or be pushed out. But we'll keep attracting starry-eyed talent by puffing ourselves up as this incredible, smart organization (that, for now, is making money)." The thing is, I chose this situation based on what I thought a successful company looks like. Now, I want to work somewhere: 1) That has slack built in. 2) That gives a damn about system quality. 3) That can grow without overreaching (see point 1). Does this type of company even exist? I feel like even if it does, I'm blind to it because my head has been in this "uber-lean startup" space and I almost can't believe anything else exists. It seems like, if something isn't trying to grow at breakneck speed, it is stagnating or dying. I want to believe this isn't the case. Have you found a place in this world that grows sustainably? If so, how, and do you think I can replicate the search strategy? Thanks.
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