Meta AI or Tesla Autopilot?
Posting in lieu of my friend who is deciding between the two (I work at Meta) I have received two competitive offers from Tesla and Meta. Choosing between them has been difficult. I care about work-life balance, I want to socialize with people not in the office, I want to ultimately be closer to family (not where either job is at the start), make good money but not at the cost of mental/physical health, and have impactful work in an area I care about (Meta team would fit the bill for area of interest). Here are the offer details: Meta (IC4): $180k base, $500k equity (vested quarterly over 4 years), $75k sign-on, 15% performance bonus Tesla (Senior): $200k base, $1.4M equity (vested quarterly over 4 years after 1-year cliff), $15k sign-on, unspecified bonus Meta won't offer more money than this after negotiation (sending the Tesla offer over) and won't hire me as IC5. Both positions are AI-related at the PhD level. What offer should I take? What sets me better up professionally? What matches my goals the most? Meta feels better to me across most marks, but the discrepancy in TC is high. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Probably a troll post but obviously Tesla you idiot
Not a troll post
I stopped reading at "I care about work-life balance". I don't know about Tesla, but it's definitely not Meta.
This! If the ceo āsleepsā on the conveyor belt, what kinda wlb you think Tesla has. Not saying weāre great either, itās more team and performance dependent. But basing on wlb for either makes OP seem like he doesnāt know where heās applying at.
Your Tesla offer blows Meta out of the water, what is there to discuss?
Tesla offer wonāt matter if the mad Felon fires the guy in 11 months with 0 severance
lol
If your friend cares about wlb, tell him to keep looking. Could be OK at meta depending on the team/org but donāt see a company priority having good wlb
Tesla Autopilot wlb is way worse than avg at Meta. Autopilot is also 5x a week in person and people usually stay til 7 at the office, which is exactly what your friend doesnāt want. Donāt take either and keep looking
I would never in a million years work for Autopilot. Meta is the better of those choices IMO.
Because you work at waymo?
Definitely meta. The fact that you mentioned wanting to see people outside work means you won't last a year at autopilot so meta actually is a better long term financial offer. Meta might not work out either, but the majority of meta employees have decent WLB whereas nobody at autopilot does. It's the worst team at the worst company for WLB. This decision flips for people who say "don't really care about hours, I want to work with smart people on passionate projects", then no question you go Tesla because at meta you'll probably be on some empire moving a meaningless metric that doesn't help the world in any way.
1.4M rsu for senior at Tesla? It's higher than senior staff per levels.. does your friend have some very specialized skills?
ML PhD
Tesla. Obvious choice here even if you take the TC component out.
What?? Autopilot work 70-80h a week
Consider the post first year (like 2nd, 3rd) year TC. If you want to stay one year at a job, maybe its fine. Even then, it might be hard to survive for a year. Looking past the first year you will probably get a promo at Meta, get some refreshers, get a bonus, maybe some spot equity, and the gap will close. Tesla is not very good with additional compensation past the initial offer, not to mention the WLB which is brutal.