1 Year, 11 Months at Google University | Hacker News Reader

1 Year, 11 Months at Google University

jmilinovich.com

46 pointsjmilinovich22 comments

What's fascinating for a company like Google in SV is no matter how good things are, you have to constantly fight to keep folks like John from trying their hand at early stage life. Overall I think it's great for the ecosystem. This type of non-traditional churn (where employers not only have to be the best of the "Big Co.s" but better than doing something completely on your) own pushes everyone to create environments that are not only innovative and rewarding but also fulfilling.

Being a founder and now at Google (John and I started almost the same time and I know him well), I think what's notable about this post is when people usually write "Why I left Google" they are sometimes backhanded compliments or thinly veiled complaints.

What John is saying "I had a great time and learned a lot but I still think starting a company is more interesting".

Also he got stuck on the Internal Tools team, which is basically the gulag as far as getting noticed by the higher-ups and promoted.

not true- I was on the Google Analytics team and the Google Offers team before that.

You mentioned "internal programs", I just assumed.

By the way, I worked at Google for 5+ years, then quit to do a startup. It's hard, but you're in good company. Word of advice: come up with a clever/funny answer ahead of time, because you're going to get a lot of "Wait, why would you quit Google?!?"

That's great advice - the confluence of the opportunity, the team, and personal circumstance made this the perfect time for me to go after my dreams.

Cheers, John

Worked with John briefly when he was with analytics. Great energy and I wish him the best (bummed he is leaving, though)! He's dead on about how much Google invests in their employees. The value of the things I have learned and am still continuing to learn here have been nearly unmatched. The best reason to join Google is that there's always something to learn, and some of the best mentors in the world to help you learn those things.

Less than 2 years is not enough time to really soak up the skills, experience, connections, and solving enough difficult problems for it to be maximum value.

I guess I now kinda get why he's doing it, but he's taking a huge risk with only 2 year of working experience total under his belt. Wish him the best!

I disagree. I think working at a large company for long periods of time can actually stifle your ability to be a great founder. You learn bad habits and your intuition can be deformed by things which help you become successful at Big Co but are useless in early stage companies.

Also, I'm at Google and I know John and his work really well. It's almost laughable to imply it was involuntary. John is an all star. The guy actually wants to do a startup because he find the challenge interesting.

"Building Authentic Relationships"? That sounds much better than the Javascript courses :)

Google does sound like an awesome environment, but, much like the post author, I'd like to try my hand at building a company.

Against such effusive praise, I wonder why someone would leave after such a relatively short stint. (Maybe the next post?)

Didn't he say that he was pursuing his "dreams of being a startup co-founder"?

Yes, of course that's enough, if the team/market/idea/timing is right.

The praise was just so effusive it sounded like many of the aspects that make being a founder attractive – autonomy, creativity, and impact – were still being well-provided at Google. I'll be interested to see the startup he builds, when it de-cloaks.

as boshea mentioned, I decided to leave to start my own company. My next post will definitely explain things in a bit more detail, so stay tuned!

Agreed. Something seems off about this post. Having worked at Google and also having founded multiple startups, I understand the allure of startups. However, I have to say that in my experience, no one leaves a job that they are perfectly happy with in order to found a startup.

The decision to found a startup comes from a deep dissatisfaction with the status quo. Either because there is a problem you are so passionate about solving that you are willing to drop everything, or because you are dissatisfied with your existing work environment, and want to try to create your own.

totally agree dlevine - in my case, life events happened that make me rethink my risk tolerance and ability to go for my dreams (read my prior post for more context)

Thanks for the pointer to extra context and good luck!

Satisfaction is not black-and-white. I think it is perfectly valid that someone is satisfied with the existing work environment (hey, there is just so much you can expect from an employer), yet, they want to create their own. It might be that they just want to show the world that they are capable of creating the same (or better) on their own.

John: have a good luck pursuing your dream!

2 years isn't such a short time in the Valley. At some places, those are the old-timers.

I know it's not what you mean, but that implies there's not much to learn in the Valley.

New opportunities come in the multitudes. The Valley is also very small. There is always a new company starting where the CTO is a former co-worker of your roommate's cousin or something like that and needs a guy/gal he can trust. Six degrees of Kevin Bacon, NorCal style.

Not really. You learn most of what you're going to learn on a job in the first two years. There was some research into this specifically done for software engineers, but for the life of me I can't recall where I saw this research. The amount you learn declines rapidly after 2 years and bottoms out around 4 years. IMHO, most companies should be actively looking to place very autodidactic employees in a novel role every two years or so to keep them stimulated.

John's drive, focus, and passion will serve him well.

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