[pwm]

> I think for the last 10 years of my career at BigTech, I can't possibly quantify my impact in numeric terms because they were such small pieces of gargantuan projects.

Honestly, this would make me depressed rather quickly. I can't imagine not knowing/experiencing my impact via the work I do. Maybe it is one of the personality differences between people choosing to work for startups/scaleups vs. big tech (no judgement either direction, just my conjecture).

[malwrar]

It’s a trade-off. I don’t get to implement the cool ideas I feel might greatly help my current employer, but their expectations of me are generally low and I get paid enough that I can retire a little over 40. Works for me, its not like I’d actually get paid more if I did something cool anyways. That energy is better spent on my own projects.

I’ve generally noticed attaboys and prestige aren’t really personally fulfilling anyways, no one cares and my work will probably be irrelevant in a year or two regardless. A bit nihilists, but it helps one detach after a long day and deal with the occasional failure.