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FAANG Is Too Cushy? How Big Tech Engineer Founders Often Fail

Eric Bahn, a VC from Hustle Fund, talks about the common failure modes of founders who previously worked in Big Tech.

Some of the questions we discuss:

  • Does success in a Big Tech job translate to founder success? Seeing how things are done "properly" in a FAANG (or equivalent) company is very valuable. However, the skills needed to start from scratch are very different.
  • How Rahul thought about leaving Meta after 4.5 years to start Taro: when you start a new product or company, no one cares about you. It is very, very hard to get people to care about you, to even give you the time of day. That's why having distribution networks are so important.
  • How long is too long in a Big Tech company? If you've been at a FAANG company for 6+ years, is that a negative signal for your ability to start a company? Obviously this depends on the situation, but it's important to be aware of the perception.
  • What are the most common failure modes of ex-FAANG founders?