[amyjess]

> “We are committed to operating like the world’s largest startup, and … that means removing layers.”

I learned a long time ago that behaving like a startup is not a good thing, and I've specifically oriented my career towards working at companies that don't even want to pretend to imitate startup culture. I'm very happy in enterprise-land.

[mingus88]

At that scale, it’s the worst of both worlds.

You set the expectation that you can deliver at the pace of a lean startup, but every step of the way you are slowed down by a process or internal dependency that is operating like a fortune 100 company.

Large companies should just fund startups and acquire them when the product has shipped than try to create a culture where teams are expected to operate a speedboat that is towed by an oceanliner.

[B-Con]

> Large companies should just fund startups and acquire them when the product has shipped

I mean, that's basically what big tech has been doing for the left 15 years., not then people get upset that "Foo Corp doesn't innovate, it only acquires".

[legitster]

Kinda. The sweet spot is working at a "mid-cap" company. The company is growing and you have resources and freedom to do things, but not so big that you are in a bureaucratic nightmare.

I tell people that the best size of company to work at is one that's just barely big enough to have an HR department.

[supportengineer]

It's hard to beat the authority and responsibility one personally has at a startup.

[ryandvm]

Lol. You'll have exactly 1/1,500,000 the authority and responsibility.

They don't mean empowering their workforce. "We want to act more like a startup" is code for we want less accountability for bad decisions.

[uvaursi]

Do we have any write ups or post mortems from WhatsApp employees prior to the acquisition and the massive buy out?

I want to (artificially perhaps) peg my projects to a smaller cohort of employees if it means the stress to them is worth it if they have the autonomy to ship stuff on their own accord, for a general feeling of having a successful and useful career.

[cosmicgadget]

It is especially not a good thing when you need to provide reliable services, coordinate across multiple business units, retain talent not chasing an equity payday, and protect your moat.

Full disclosure: I do not have an MBA.

[ryandvm]

100%

Finding out that one of the world's largest economic forces aspires to burn out their workforce and spend more time shooting from the hip is depressing.

[whazor]

I joined an actual startup and am also very happy. We are just focused on making the product work. Not on promo docs or headcount fighting.

[josefritzishere]

I have worked at both and... well they're just very different. It's mostly trade offs. What specifically for y'all?

[LargeWu]

There's dysfunction in both, it's just different types of dysfunction.

[somanyphotons]

What are the aspects that you're looking for from enterprise-land

[thih9]

Sane workload, work hours and vacation days for a start.

It’s 2025 and I still see “unlimited PTO” in many places.