jpzisme
It is a bummer that a lot of startups, regardless of geography, feel the need to move once they hit a certain level. It produces brain drain and is a missed opportunity to bring economic growth to their home regions.
I used to live in Europe and worked with many Europeans while living in the Bay Area. It seems like lots make the jump stateside. Having universal healthcare seems like it would be a big incentive to take entrepreneurial risk vs. our situation here in the U.S.
Also, regularly socializing with non-programmers seems to be a check against some of the anti-social habits we're all prone to pick up
" a distinct work-life balance has been replaced by free food, ping pong, and services that do your laundry or drive you to work. This puerility is internalized so profoundly that it extends to corporate hierarchies and the way essential tasks are discussed. Software engineers are often colloquially referred to as “rock stars” or “ninjas” in job postings, and childish jargon is pervasive. "
Which is ridiculous considering the article is about poop and gun cartoon depictions.
Even though a program like this might save some lives in the short term, training machines that don't have empathy and can be programmed for whatever means to kill seems like a Pandora's Box that we should be damn sure we want to open before actually doing so.
Also, my apologies for the less-than-respectful replies that you are getting. You should not be chastised for respectfully sharing an important opinion, and their behavior is unbecoming of what we should expect of American citizens.
Eventually, I found one that was a great fit, and I've been here for over a year and am extremely happy. What I've seen at least in the Bay Area startup scene is that many companies have unrealistic expectations and are waiting for unicorn candidates that magically fit all of their wildest dreams.
If you were at a company that started from nothing and became successful, a startup that has sense should be interested in you.
I'm also getting tired of these apology tours from SV people. The biggest flaw they have (aside from collecting scary amounts of data) is seemingly taking a too-rosy view of people. It'd be more refreshing for somebody to stand up and quote a somewhat notorious fighter by saying, "I'd like to take this chance to apologize... to absolutely nobody."
I'm sure there is a drug/party/binge drinking culture in some companies in the Bay, but it's the mildest I've seen in any industry/geography so far.
The advice the author gives is spot on. Taking the time after finishing the program, working through multiple algo textbooks, and taking an online course on data structures and algorithms definitely helped seal the deal.
To those deriding bootcamps, you are missing out on lots of great developers. The trick is to determine whether the individual worked hard during/after the bootcamp.
Lastly, if you're considering a bootcamp, do your homework, pick a good one, and work relentlessly (I was there generally 8am-11pm every day). It has turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.
Can anyone vouch for this behavior being prevalent? To me it just seems like a result of psychology where people think that others have more interesting/fulfilled social lives than they do despite it not being actually true, but maybe I live under a rock.
Furthermore, there are a ton of small VCs and startups in the valley. Of course a small percentage will do sketchy stuff. This is true everywhere and would really only be a problem if it was widespread or common amongst the major players and served as a meaningful barrier to entry. The only firm mentioned by name, Binary Capital, looks like a two or a one person shop, and I assume doesn't have much market power.
It seems the gut reaction in tech is that conflict is bad, but conflict is inevitable. It is better to respectfully resolve conflicts than try to avoid them at all costs IMO
A quick look at how the natural world works is a good enough deterrent: https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/
When running the Dockercoins example, how can you scale it up to mine as many coins as possible? How would you set up alerts for if one of the services went down? How would you diagnose the problem? What other tools might you use?
Play around and see what tools you like and don't like. Have fun!