SpaceX

• Given a good team and manager, engineers can succeed and learn a lot. However, these are extremely rare. Most people are fired or leave after <3 years.

Poor Management

• The culture of 'extreme ownership' is weaponized against engineers. Engineering teams are severely understaffed, employee burnout is high, and teams face political arguments and drama with other teams. However, managers blame engineers for all negative outcomes, citing 'extreme ownership'. You are on your own to deal with both technical challenges and managerial challenges. Managers do not help employees solve problems or grow.

• There is a double standard of work expectations, and many managers work fewer hours than their employees. Expect to work 12-16 hour days to solve problems and have that work go unappreciated by your manager, who instead will blame you for schedule delays despite working at your physical limit.

• VP and executive direction is often misguided, forcing employees to work overtime on tasks not worth doing. For example, I was asked to perform technician duties for weeks as an engineer.

• Employees have an average 3-year tenure. You hear about a few employees mysteriously leaving the company every month, and managers and employees pretend to ignore this, and badmouth and gossip about former employees.

• There is lots of gossip and backstabbing by teammates and coworkers. Certain teammates do no technical work, but instead weaponize gossip. Managers play favorites.

Extreme ownership does not mean engineers can be blamed for management problems. Managers need to practice the ownership that they preach, and solve staffing and office politics problems instead of blaming engineers.