Big Tech
6 statements across 3 episodes · 2 bullish · 2 bearish · 3 people on the record · first statement Nov 27, 2019 by Cory Doctorow · across every show →
Everything said about Big Tech, oldest first
Nov 27, 2019 bearish
Doctorow: Legal frameworks create 'kill zones' protecting Big Tech monopolies
“And in the years since we have created these legal tools that allow firms not just to dominate, but to maintain their dominance, not by making better products, but by establishing a kill zone around their products where it becomes so legally fraught to make co…”
Nov 1, 2023 positive
Seibel argues engineers learn much faster at a startup than at Google.
“I think most people don't realize that, like, you can learn at a startup pace or you can learn at a Google pace, and like, a startup is an amazing opportunity to learn. So if you're getting better, faster than your peers who are in big tech, You might be getti…”
Nov 1, 2023 negative
Seibel argues grinding 100-hour weeks in big tech is a bad deal.
“I would argue that if you're the Googler, you're getting a bad deal if you're doing, like, a hundred hour weeks and grinding, and, like, your boss or your boss's boss is getting, like, mega vacations and ten million dollar a year packages and, like, promotions…”
Nov 7, 2025
Paffenholz: Do Not Waste Effort Pitching Candidates Seeking Big Tech Stability
“And you might get signals early on that they really want to be in big tech, and that can be really hard to convince them otherwise, especially if it's like, say, comp package related or stability of job related. It's probably not worth fighting that battle bec…”
Nov 7, 2025
Paffenholz: Candidates Interviewing at Big Tech Lack Clarity on Startups
“Are they also interviewing with a big tech company? If so, that might indicate that they're not quite sure in which direction they want to go yet, and we'll have to circle back to selling on why should they be joining a startup in the first place.”
Nov 7, 2025 positive