17 Comments

Wow. This is surprisingly inspiring. I will bookmark this article and return to it whenever I'm too angry to continue working... thanks Anton for being open 🔥

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Thank you Tom!

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Loved the story telling on this one!

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Thank you Raviraj! 🙏

You probably have some of your own such cases after so long in one place :)

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Last time I got bored at MSFT, I left. Not bored so far at the current place.

Have had many frustrating incidents but they didn't push me over the edge. :)

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Great article, thanks for sharing your experience, Anton.

I really saw myself in the second one.

And I liked the lessons in the first one: Rather than being angry, try to understand "why" and "how" you got that response. Understanding the process behind it can help to avoid disappointments in the future.

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Thank you Fran! Getting 'above' that anger takes some time :)

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Wow! I love the idea of learning from those moments 😍

It is something I've never thought about. Thanks for sharing, people usually don't do it.

I feel you on the "I still love the people I worked with." It made me stay a lot of times.

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Thank you Dani 🙏

I agree that people don’t often share those, I thought it may be useful to put those thoughts into the light :)

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These stories are great Anton! It's so true that sometimes when negative thoughts get into your head, it's useful just to step back and reframe the situation. Writing things down helps too by making things clearer and forcing you to think through things as you write :)

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Yeah, writing is a great way to cool down and reorganize yourself! A relatively new way for me :)

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“The longer you stay in one place, the more influence you have. The truly great things I did, were always after a few years in one place”

Loved this one!

Great story, I encountered a budget problem in the last company I worked in.

My logic was: "You are paying millions on salaries, yet the team is falling apart. Can't you spare 300$ weekly to bond? Is it that much to ask?"

Some would say I wasn't as persistent as you :P

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Thanks Orel! Yeah, this is still hard for me to wrap my head around. I understand the logic behind budgets, but the priorities are still strange imo...

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Feb 27Liked by Anton Zaides

This was great Anton, we have/had similar situations in life! 😃

1) The past 3 years of running my businesses with employees taught me that accounting and taxes can be a pain, and you must agree on specific numbers to keep the books simple. This doesn't compare to the complexity of a VC backend company, but I can imagine a situation where $75 has caused confusion and extra work.

2) This is me right now:

> In addition, my wife was pregnant, and I thought that a better time for a change would be after the paternity leave.

I have two main clients besides my freelancing jobs. While for one, I designed and built apps from 0 and deployed and maintained them, with the other client, I was stuck at a Senior Engineer level for the past 5 years. The years are ticking, and I know our date is close, but I can't afford to be stuck any longer. My gut tells me the market isn't great for Senior/Lead Engineers who have been in that position for 5 years. The current market conditions don't help with finding a position, but at least I have to try to move towards leadership and roles beyond that.

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Thanks for sharing Akos!

I’m currently reading ‘ Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career’, which talks about how the author was stuck without a promotion for 12 years in Amazon. Very engaging! :)

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Feb 27Liked by Anton Zaides

Added to my reading list, thanks Anton! 🙂

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Did I read that correctly? $20 per person for a Christmas party? ... that would by each person 1 drink in town where I live... Absolutely leave that company. All of you!

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