Started looking out and got a decent offer from Cruise. Remote from Seattle. Downlevelled to L4 (Senior SWE I), but TC still beats MS 🥜 (lol?). Take or pass? Numbers fudged a bit. YOE: 8 TC: 240k L63 New TC: 350k L4 (90k of that cruise RSU) AV space looks super interesting to me, but does it seem suspicious a company with little revenue is valued at $30B? The car does seem to work in SanFran. I have a feeling the next liquidity event will be lowered. Apart from business, any insights on specify teams like maps, simulation, etc? Really appreciate any input. Hard info to come by since it's a smaller/younger company. My initial thought is to pass and grind for l5 later or somewhere else.
Think of it like this. RSUs are liquid right now. The cars are already driving. DOT approved vehicles without steering wheels. Over the next 2-3 years, it's either going to blow way up or bust. You can see it from the inside or from the outside. MS will always be there.
Good luck to you over there, cousin! 🙏
Thanks! No question the mission is cool. So you are generally happy there? WLB decent enough?
If it makes you feel any better, I'm an L5 and make 380 TC. Fuck me
I thought Cruise IPO is NOT happening especially after Dan Amman leaving So I wonder if that can be replaced with more cash instead
I would say the timeline for IPO is delayed, not impossible. Without Dan (whose mission was to IPO) the odds of IPO before the Origin is on the road is slim to nill for sure. That said, 2025 IPO is still very possible once the origin is released and operational.
If it’s a space that interests you, go for it. It is still a start up so life can seem randomized but bringing in a solid OpEx mindset as the company goes from heavy RnD to a product will be super valuable. Remember the AV space isn’t a winner take all either. There is room for Waymo and Cruise to exist in the worst case. I’m in the maps org but have some insight into simulation. Feel free to dm.
TC breakdown?
Look, your cash in hand is going to match your current TC even if cruise went belly up in 2-3 years. DM if you want details on a specific team. Mileage and culture always varies between teams in large orgs.
You assume if it gets big that you’ll cash out. Is that true? The monetization strategy of this entire thing has rocky numbers at best. Driving for $1 a mile? Compute that’s tens of thousands? Sensors costing even more? Maintenance, electricity, storage… AV is going to have a rough time. You’ll work twice as much as at MSFT, and for what? How will Cruise 10x it’s stock doing ADAS for GM? How will it even be profitable burning billions a year and literal pennies of profit per car? It’s cool. It might be right for you. But it’s just not as lucrative as you think.
My recommendation is to go for it. The next 5 years for Automotive is going to be bananas. I don’t have any insights on specific teams but the work they’re doing now will no doubt open doors for them in the future.
Thanks. Agreed there. Huge potential with the tech from Cruise and Waymo. Once robo taxi rolls out, robo trucks to follow, big business. Also, doing my part to bring down uber price gouging haha. Tagged GM as well!