How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 100 engineers

Re:How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 1... by bla2 on Thursday June 28, 2018 @06:08PM (#17420888)

This surprised me at first:

> having difficult conversations with individuals is never fun

But apparently "difficult conversations" is a Valley euphemism for "firing people" and doesn't mean "discussing difficult engineering problems".

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Re:How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 1... by tyteen4a03 on Friday June 29, 2018 @04:36AM (#17423224)

It might just be my British shining through but I had no problem understanding that bit.

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Re:How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 1... by alexchamberlain on Friday June 29, 2018 @03:24AM (#17422994)

Not sure it needs to mean firing people as much as giving any constructive feedback to an experienced engineer can be difficult, even if done perfectly.

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Re:How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 1... by dayvough on Thursday June 28, 2018 @09:51PM (#17421829)

How is this specifically a Valley euphemism?

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Re:How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 1... by sethrin on Friday June 29, 2018 @12:28AM (#17422420)

For most working persons globally, getting fired isn't something that involves a "difficult conversation". Working stiffs do not get that degree of attention to their feelings. Suggesting that this phenomenon is common to (or even characteristic of) the high-income and acutely socially-aware circles of Silicon Valley should not be construed to exclude its observation elsewhere, but SV is one of the few places where the behavior is common, and hopefully the only place that feels the need for a polite euphemism.

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Re:How my role as CTO has changed as we've grown from 1 to 1... by itronitron on Thursday June 28, 2018 @11:07PM (#17422094)

I think they are just hoping that it is highly localized.

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