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Comment by ryukoposting | Hacker News Reader

Huh, I guess this is just totally misaligned with my lived experiences working for startups. It's the only environment I've ever worked in where engineers are allowed to do engineering. I don't just write code, I get to be the architect of a broader system.

If you don't want to work for a company that makes meaningless bullshit, then... don't. There are plenty of companies making things that are actually useful to society. Go work there instead.

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Sounds like you might be better suited for working at a company that doesn’t do products but rather projects for others. Plenty of architecting to go around. Any if you get to work on enough new projects, you actually get the chance to make projects succeed faster by iterating on initial architecture and project setup.

It’s still all meaningless bullshit of course, but it’s others’ bullshit.

I've found much the opposite. I love working for product companies, because the vision is clear. There's an actual goal in mind, not just "keep the customer satisfied."

I helped my last company build the world's first fully wireless neonatal ICU. I help my current company keep people in austere environments connected with each other. If that isn't meaningful stuff, I don't know what is.

Is this a geography problem? I feel like I hear complaints about meaninglessness of work from my peers on the west coast far more often than I hear them from my neck of the woods.

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