My first job was at a startup in Palo Alto. 2013 was near the peak of the App Store optimism, with companies like Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest, and other mobile apps getting crazy funding / valuations. Soaking in the Silicon Valley experience was amazing; ping-pong / foosball all day, overpriced lunch on University ave, overpriced coffee at Blue Bottle, Man Jose, Caltrain to the Giants game (freezing in t-shirt and shorts). Tech industry is missing that air of optimism, the culture sort of got lost as the industry grew from people following the money.
>investor optimism good >chasing money bad Grifters.
I miss what SF was in 2016. I loved that city back then. Good old days. Have wonderful memories of the city. The place is not the same anymore and it breaks my heart.
2016 SF was the first time I visited my brother staying in the US. 6 months later, I migrated via MS CS as well, but was on the east coast. by the time I got an internship in SF downtown, I could see that this is not the same place I had seen just 2 years ago. Though I've made a lot of money and settled in life, I still wonder how life would've been back in India. maybe some crazy startup stints, maybe nothing too great... can't say.
2020 was more interesting.
2011 was amazing
If you work at soulless Meta, you are only working for the PSC. How can anyone be optimistic to grind for that?
I lived in Palo Alto in 2021 and it was the exact same experience
Also Trump was not around… less xenophobia back then
Leetcode effect. The whole industry is spoiled. In 2013 there was leetcode but it was just one part and not very complex and it was all based what you did in previous job. What you get is now a bunch of leetcode monkeys and Alex xu system design monkeys who fake all their experience and throw buzzwords and join with inflated titles.
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Totally feel you. I had a very similar experience both in palo alto and in Sf. Changed dramatically around 2017/2018