Don't know who needs to hear this but it's an absolutely brutal & ruthless job market out there. Not just tech but corporate work more broadly. Hearing lots of stories of really smart people with 0% response rate on applications. Save. Survive. Be thankful if you still have work
Do you know what a "LAN party" is?
Probably not, because my friends and I invented it in the late 90s to play computer games together
We got together, connected computers...
Each grab a mountain dew and frag.
That's it, we simply engaged in CtF and deathmatch Quake, Warcraft…
Do you know what a "bottle night" is?
Probably not, because my gf and I invented it during a 2023 blizzard in Buffalo, NY.
We lock our phones away, turn the TV off...
Each grab a bottle of wine, and talk.
That's it, we simply talk and enjoy each other's presence.
We live…
This is a historic artifact. No modern companies do this, instead best practice now is hire an ex-McKinsey MBA who extracts a $50 million exit package for himself while tearing down the business and destroying the reputation of an industry
Apparently, if you can see two people hugging, you're left-brained, and if you can see a dinosaur, you're right-brained. What do you see in the mountain?
I just saw a TikTok that basically said women don’t have maternity leave in America because companies like Nestle lobby against those laws cause their profits for baby formula would tank as mothers would be home to breastfeed their kids 😬
JUST IN: The US economy added a blockbuster 353,000 jobs in January, far exceeding expectations of 180,000. This is a really healthy economy. (December jobs revised up to 333,000)
Unemployment rate: 3.7%
Wage growth: 4.5% in past year —>far ahead of 3.4% inflation
#jobs
Your crappy employer: "we need you back in the office and torching 2 hours a day because we're bagholding CRE, our execs can't figure out how to use PM software and we just broadly hate you/want arbitrary control over your movements"
NVIDIA, with a remote team:
Chat GPT: I'm sorry I can't tell you how to butcher a cow, forbidden information
Gemini: I'm sorry I can't tell you how to butcher a cow, forbidden information
YouTube: here you go boss, an entire breakdown with a friendly bearded guy - get a piece of jerky let's learn together
Millennials have had not a single W as a generation. They just haven't. Financially hosed multiple times, 1st gen to have lower upward mobility, doomerism/nihilism widespread in culture, pop music all trash. Remote work by far our largest W. We must not let them claw that back...
Everyone talking re: over-education of youth. But that's not the problem. Real issue is believing certain work is beneath you. We've all answered phones. Jensen Huang (NW $81B) cleaned toilets. I was broke prep cook in a Jewish deli. Gotta start somewhere
Tech layoffs are reminder you're just # on spreadsheet, not part of a 'family' or any nonsense HR weasel-speak. Related, never fear leaving a bad situation. Don't let anyone gaslight you about optics of 'job hopping' -it's actually high agency to cut losses. They can, so can you
This is the endgame of seeing everything, including education as merely another consumer good to pay for. Mommy and daddy paying 100K a year demand high grades in return. "My precious little Timmy didn't get a 3.8? I'd like to speak to the manager"
Marketer here. Made 30K in first role. Lived in a tiny apt where nothing worked shared w/friend met online who was also broke at the time. One of most fun times of my life tbh. You don't make 200K at your first gig. That's fine. Money will come, kids...
Yes that's precisely why people go to movies, to be lectured to by the joyless, paint-by-numbers assembly line of MBAs at $DIS.Q, not, you know, be entertained or enjoy something in a world already overrun by people mad about everything
Still don't understand why very rich very successful guys want to be internet posters so bad. You don't want this life. Go pick a random artist and free them to create. Feed 1,000 shelter dogs. Buy another yacht. Breed raptors. There's just so many better options here
Millennials: this is your time. Boomers are wealthy/retired or about to & f*ck off to AZ dry sauna or Fla beach life. Zoomer brain is fully borked by TikTok and being put on dopamine treadmills at 11. Gen X laughs & watches. Stay sober, lift, get off adderall -the world is yours
Mr Beast has 2x # of YouTube subscribers and his videos, which he publishes weekly, greatly surpass these #'s. The only reason marketers spend so much on ads here are religious reasons (our sector claims it's data-driven, but it mostly isn't). No one talks about any of this
The time I went to the ER they sent me a $9K ambulance bill but I didn't take one there. Last time went to a specialist, MD said don't worry no charge but still sent bill. When was at Stanford oncology insurance tried hard to deny my coverage. Truly the worst sector on the planet
Talked to friend today. He works hard but can't afford down payment on modest home. Mid 30s, doesn't have kids and doesn't feel financially able to. Will inherit $ when they're very old but won't even need it then. Parents won't help at all now. Makes no sense, story is common
My take here is this is a v cool/fun device, not expensive, and reminiscent of how tech used to be (we used to get lots of different fun gadgets all the time). If you aren't hype about stuff like this you're in the wrong sector. Experiments are good and inspire. Let people build
MBA bubble finally popping (remember MBAs are not a useful indicator of anything, any playbooks they teach are pretty dead, they're literally being made fun of on South Park)
Stuck culture, because entire creative sectors are now run by risk-averse, nihilistic, MBA-brained bean counters who loathe their own users. Afraid to do anything new or take chances (aka actually be creative). Bleak.
Watched documentary where fellow took LSD in his 30s (extreme alcoholic, on road to a death of despair). They caught up w/him in his 70s. Still sober, that single exp life-changing enough to stick w/him & catalyst for bettering himself. Insane this tool is withheld from humanity
Much of Gen Z literally having collective nervous breakdown. A healthy society would lead them in better direction. Instead, (wealthy) people dunk on them, optics of which are cruel, callous, cartoon-villain like. Psychologically as lost as the kids. We need real leadership here
Bunch of savages in this town. Rental car left for literally 5 minutes and someone smashed the window. They didn't even take anything. This is exactly why we're leaving San Francisco. We've also been personally attacked outside our home. This place is structurally broken.
Amusing that a bunch of people who spend entire day on computers and worship code as religion think we're in a computer simulation. Fascinating behavior, remember when people who worked outside all day thought ra, the sun god was in charge? No one is breaking any new ground here
I lost my father at 13 to suicide. My best friend was killed in front of me in random act of violence at 19. I held the trauma with me for 15 more years because no one helped me understand how to let go. I had to figure it out. If you're similar don't do what I did. Ask for help.
Used to wake up on Saturdays absolutely torn from Friday (if slept at all). 475 days sober later was designated driver last night, had just as much fun as the drinking people, up at 5am today for coffee & contemplation, lifted, prepped breakfast for wife. Feels good man
Sober 90 days today, also 100% free of prescription meds as well (with MD approval). Mind and body both feel amazing. Mood, focus, energy etc much more consistent and stable. Posting as encouragement for anyone who might need it -DMs always open if you want to talk
Lot of bad takes re TikTok lady upset about long commute. There's report in Scandinavian Journal of Econ: Stress that doesn’t pay: the commuting paradox. In short-you could lose an arm or win lotto & be happier than someone w/a long commute
More on this->
Honestly every single climate change story needs to end with "so anyway, stop screwing around with paper straws and slightly better fans & just roll more nuclear everywhere." We have the technology to have abundant, green elemental energy. Enough monkey business let's build
Someone in my feed: if you had put 10K into doge however long ago you'd have 500K today. Imagine having a time machine and only making half a mil. Just zero imagination.