Housing prices have gone insane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

If your argument is that remotely distributed teams can't be innovative or productive, there are many dozens of contemporary examples within Silicon Valley alone that prove you wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

If your argument is that remotely distributed teams can't be innovative or productive, there are many dozens of contemporary examples within Silicon Valley alone that prove you wrong.

I am honestly curious. I am familiar with Google, Apple, and Facebook with their enveloping park like campuses, where they clearly value (and likely see metrics) that productivity is higher when staff are onsite. Free dinners were not just a perk, it was a way to keep people there and working. There are lots of other perks that would have been more compelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

If your argument is that remotely distributed teams can't be innovative or productive, there are many dozens of contemporary examples within Silicon Valley alone that prove you wrong.

Why are they in Silicon Valley if they are remotely distributed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

If your argument is that remotely distributed teams can't be innovative or productive, there are many dozens of contemporary examples within Silicon Valley alone that prove you wrong.

I am honestly curious. I am familiar with Google, Apple, and Facebook with their enveloping park like campuses, where they clearly value (and likely see metrics) that productivity is higher when staff are onsite. Free dinners were not just a perk, it was a way to keep people there and working. There are lots of other perks that would have been more compelling.

The early campus model was meant to emulate a University campus. It was awesome when you lived 10-15 minutes from work. I worked @ FB and received a bonus/stipend because I lived within half a mile or a mile (can't remember exactly what the limit was) of the office. When people started to ride the bus for 75 minutes, or drive 60+ minutes, it broke down. They would just adjust their hours and work 11am-8pm to avoid rush hour, and then take a bunch of food out the door with them for dinner. Nobody benefits from these commutes but 1) it didn't seem like a solvable problem and 2) the company was growing so fast that it was all hands on deck in other areas. I think the pandemic and lockdowns have provided an opportunity for all these employers to double back and solve this problem, which is a few years over due. If I live a 10 minute bike ride away from the office, I would prefer to ride in most days. If I'm 75 minutes away, then no way, and I'll be more productive at home anyway. Seems like common sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

If your argument is that remotely distributed teams can't be innovative or productive, there are many dozens of contemporary examples within Silicon Valley alone that prove you wrong.

Why are they in Silicon Valley if they are remotely distributed?

Three words. Sand Hill Rd.

"Companies" being based in Silicon Valley has more to do with finding angel investors and raising capital, than software talent. The capital pool is completely concentrated there.

[Anonymous]

And just to reinforce what has been said by multiple people.

Study: D.C. and Arlington among the 10 cities with fastest rent declines during pandemic - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/25/study-dc-arlington-among-10-cities-with-fastest-rent-declines-during-pandemic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now productivity is maintained b/c pandemic means we have nothing better to do. People are WFH more hours than they will when they “have a life”.

And again, it’s only been 10 months, how many new products or services have been spun up from whole cloth in that time? I think we are still cruising on the work from the before times.

We've launched a bunch of new products in the last 10 months. Most software devs enjoy writing and deploying software at scale. It's what they do for fun if they aren't working, in many cases. We don't babysit them so if you wanted to come into the office and read the news all day, or find a nook and play video games, you could have done that, but it was never really a problem at this level.

Launched usually mean released, which means design was done likely in before times (or they are tiny projects if they only take a few months).

I think you are missing my question, but you work in HR so probably aren’t as plugged in dev cycles. I would be very curious how you handle the ground breaking stage and tiger teams remotely, as it often involves scribbles and physical models to capture the concepts that are being worked.

The campus model is just a rip off of Hollywood. If you watch the show TMZ it stands for Three Mile Zone. Actors were expected to live and stay within three miles of studio during filming. Places like Brown Derby and certain apartment complexes and neighborhoods were like campus for the studio. You could WFH but if need for a shot or scene they could call. FANG is not the economy.

JPM predicts the office sector will come roaring back after virus. This guys who write code blah blah blah yes a few rockstars always could do that. Patch mgt, Chang mgt, infrastructure, config mgt, internal audit, info sec, finance, on and on are not rockstars they will go back to office.


If your argument is that remotely distributed teams can't be innovative or productive, there are many dozens of contemporary examples within Silicon Valley alone that prove you wrong.

I am honestly curious. I am familiar with Google, Apple, and Facebook with their enveloping park like campuses, where they clearly value (and likely see metrics) that productivity is higher when staff are onsite. Free dinners were not just a perk, it was a way to keep people there and working. There are lots of other perks that would have been more compelling.

The early campus model was meant to emulate a University campus. It was awesome when you lived 10-15 minutes from work. I worked @ FB and received a bonus/stipend because I lived within half a mile or a mile (can't remember exactly what the limit was) of the office. When people started to ride the bus for 75 minutes, or drive 60+ minutes, it broke down. They would just adjust their hours and work 11am-8pm to avoid rush hour, and then take a bunch of food out the door with them for dinner. Nobody benefits from these commutes but 1) it didn't seem like a solvable problem and 2) the company was growing so fast that it was all hands on deck in other areas. I think the pandemic and lockdowns have provided an opportunity for all these employers to double back and solve this problem, which is a few years over due. If I live a 10 minute bike ride away from the office, I would prefer to ride in most days. If I'm 75 minutes away, then no way, and I'll be more productive at home anyway. Seems like common sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And just to reinforce what has been said by multiple people.

Study: D.C. and Arlington among the 10 cities with fastest rent declines during pandemic - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/25/study-dc-arlington-among-10-cities-with-fastest-rent-declines-during-pandemic

All cities full of young people who all over home for pandemic. That ain’t permanent.

[Anonymous]

At some point prices will hit a ceiling, because salaries across the country aren't keeping up with the cost of living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At some point prices will hit a ceiling, because salaries across the country aren't keeping up with the cost of living.

Salaries rise with inflation. Even if demand stagnates, home prices generally continue to rise with inflation as well over the long term. So ceiling is kind of a loaded term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they in Silicon Valley if they are remotely distributed?

Three words. Sand Hill Rd.

"Companies" being based in Silicon Valley has more to do with finding angel investors and raising capital, than software talent. The capital pool is completely concentrated there.

Yes, this is the answer. Execs and senior product people need to be in the Bay Area if you want to tap into that pool of capital. But the bulk of the company can be elsewhere. I expect to see an explosion of "satellite" offices in tier 2 cities once the pandemic settles down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they in Silicon Valley if they are remotely distributed?

Three words. Sand Hill Rd.

"Companies" being based in Silicon Valley has more to do with finding angel investors and raising capital, than software talent. The capital pool is completely concentrated there.

Yes, this is the answer. Execs and senior product people need to be in the Bay Area if you want to tap into that pool of capital. But the bulk of the company can be elsewhere. I expect to see an explosion of "satellite" offices in tier 2 cities once the pandemic settles down.

That was happening long before. That’s not WFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they in Silicon Valley if they are remotely distributed?

Three words. Sand Hill Rd.

"Companies" being based in Silicon Valley has more to do with finding angel investors and raising capital, than software talent. The capital pool is completely concentrated there.

Yes, this is the answer. Execs and senior product people need to be in the Bay Area if you want to tap into that pool of capital. But the bulk of the company can be elsewhere. I expect to see an explosion of "satellite" offices in tier 2 cities once the pandemic settles down.

So execs and sr product people would never interact with their product teams? Only have pitches for new designs by zoom? And they would pay developers less right (otherwise why move to 2nd city?)