How RSUs Can Both Greatly Reward And Punish You - Pinterest Example

This segment explains the volatile nature of equity compensation through the real-life example of Pinterest. It demonstrates how RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) can dramatically boost or reduce total compensation based on stock market performance, and highlights the importance of timing, risk awareness, and planning when joining a company.

- **Pinterest’s RSU Grant Example:** An employee joining Pinterest in January 2020 with a 20,000 RSU grant at a $20 stock price would have received a $400K equity package. As the stock price rose to $80 in a year, the total value of those RSUs skyrocketed to $1.6M.
- **Golden Handcuffs Phenomenon:** When stock prices soar, employees become financially incentivized to stay—even if they’re unhappy—due to the high value of unvested RSUs, often referred to as "golden handcuffs."
- **Stock Price Timing Matters:** The RSU grant is priced just before the start date. If the stock price dips right before joining and then recovers, the employee benefits from an immediate bump in total compensation.
- **Market Downturn Impact:** As Pinterest’s stock fell \~70% from its peak in 2021, employees who joined during or after the peak saw a significant drop in total compensation—sometimes down to one-third of their original grant value.
- **RSU Lockout Periods:** Employees at public companies can't sell RSUs at will. Sale windows are restricted to prevent insider trading, which can prevent selling even when the stock is at a peak.

Related resources:

- ["If my main goal is compensation, would it be wise to learn blockchain tech since it will potentially be the tech of the next couple decades?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tyS6MzzADqBzt10802Mh/if-my-main-goal-is-compensation-would-it-be-wise-to-learn-blockchain-tech-since-it-will-potentially-be-the-tech-of-the-next-couple-decades/)
- ["How do people in Big Tech deal with constantly fluctuating Stock Prices from their company?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JhEDkJl8AexlsL4IXBOH/how-do-people-in-big-tech-deal-with-constantly-fluctuating-stock-prices-from-their-company/)
- [\[Taro Top 10\] Pay Negotiation](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/uyWSc5q79zFw2Ei7w59d/)

Becoming A Legendary Meta Coder: The Story of the First E7 Code Machine

There are many complex ways [**to get to staff and beyond**](https://www.jointaro.com/course/grow-from-senior-to-staff-engineer-l5-to-l6/why-have-archetypes/), but one of them is actually quite straightforward (at least at Meta): *Just write more code than everyone else by a **staggering** amount.*

That's exactly what [**Michael Novati**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelnovati/) did to get to Staff \[E6\] at Meta and eventually Senior Staff \[E7\]. Since Michael was early Facebook, there actually wasn't a Staff Engineer archetype at the time to capture the way he was adding immense value to the company. So they added it! Thanks to Michael, there is now a formal "Code Machine" archetype in the official Meta internal wiki.

Michael will be breaking down:

- His story about how he became Meta's first incredibly senior "Code Machine" engineer
- The most impactful projects he worked on
- How he managed his time effectively to write so many diffs.

At the end, we'll have time for Q&A where you can ask Michael questions about topics like:

- How he grew so quickly and crafted such an extraordinary career
- What the early days at Meta were like
- Different ways to create a unique brand for yourself, your work, and your career

If you need extra help breaking into top tech companies like FAANG, [**Formation.dev**](http://Formation.dev) is here to provide you hands-on, personalized support. Join Michael and the rest of the awesome team at Formation here: [**https://formation.dev/partners/taro**](https://formation.dev/partners/taro)

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 14] - Reflect

Reflecting regularly is a powerful habit that can dramatically improve your productivity and self-awareness. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Daily micro-reflections and bi-weekly deep dives help you identify patterns in when and why you're productive or struggling
- Documenting reflections as written artifacts (e.g. notes or voice memos) forces clarity and gives you useful data over time
- Review both the nature of your work and the relationships that support or hinder your progress—productivity often depends on collaboration
- You can keep reflections private, share them with a manager, or even make them public to foster accountability and gain feedback from others

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 8] - Finding A Job

Finding a job as a software engineer sucks, especially when it comes to your first one. This lesson teaches you:

- How to differentiate yourself from the massive pool of other applicants
- Why most engineers have the wrong mentality going into interviews and how you should flip it to be much healthier
- How to structure your job search (and why you shouldn't just start off grinding LeetCode into oblivion)

To dive deeper into the full mechanics behind landing any tech job (FAANG, startups, etc), take our course here: [Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 5] - Tech Stack Rankings

Machine learning, web, back-end, DevOps, mobile - There are so many different tech stacks software engineers can specialize in. So how does the type of engineer you are affect your side project potential? This lesson teaches you:

- The rankings for tech stacks when it comes to side projects, starting from which one is the best suited and which ones are the worst suited
- Why mobile engineers in particular are extremely well-positioned to build impressive side projects
- The unfair advantage front-end engineers have when it comes to building side projects and getting credit
- Ideas for non-front-end engineers to build great side projects
- The pros and cons of every tech stack when it comes to side projects

DSA Crash Course [Part 5] - Is Prime Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *is_prime* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/is-prime?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [Alvin's](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [Structy](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [this link to get 20% off](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Become An Open Source Master [Part 25] - Taking The Next Step In Open Source

We've come to the end of our journey exploring open source contributions.

- This course focused on contributing to existing repositories, not creating your own. Creating a successful open-source project involves technical and marketing challenges. James is doing this right now with TinyBase: <https://github.com/tinyplex/tinybase>
- **Open source takes time and patience**. It takes time to learn a codebase, earn trust, and become a strong contributor.
- Don't get discouraged by rejections or setbacks. Every piece of feedback helps you grow.
- The social side of open source is critical. It's about teamwork, building relationships, and demonstrating your ability to work well with others.

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>
- LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespearce/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespearce/)

Top System Design Interview Mistakes [Part 8] - Don't Make Arbitrary Decisions

This video discusses the importance of explaining technical decisions during interviews. Key points include:

- Candidates often make arbitrary choices without justification, missing opportunities for self-correction or valuable discussion
- We go through an example contrasts a poor response (choosing a database without explanation) with an improved one (considering options thoroughly)
- If a decision is worth stating, it's worth defending
- **Concluding tips:** Ask questions, document as you go, and always show your work for technical decisions

If you need extra help with your system design interview, [Formation.dev](https://formation.dev/partners/taro) can provide you hands-on, personalized support. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 2] - Why Is The Staff Promotion So Hard?

Countless senior engineers hit a wall as they push for staff. This lesson teaches you:

- How the Staff Engineer role in and of itself is special by being a relatively new career invention
- The easiest way to tell if a Senior Engineer isn't ready to become a Staff Engineer
- Why the Staff Engineer promotion is fundamentally different from prior promotions
- Why many teams can't support an additional Staff Engineer promotion
- How you can be performing as a Staff Engineer and still not get the promotion

Asking Great Questions [Part 26] - Go Deeper: Follow Through

Asking great questions is a skill that takes months, if not years, to develop. So let's take the knowledge from this course and apply it! You get better by doing, not just consuming.

Take the related courses:

- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

[Become A Go-To Person 14/18] Give Presentations To Become An Expert

A course by [Jordan Cutler](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancutler1/), Senior Software Engineer at Pinterest and Author of the [High Growth Engineer Newsletter](https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 20] - Just Jump In

If there's one thing software engineers love to do, it's prepare. They'll read and watch and listen to countless resources in order to get "ready" to tackle their meaty technical challenges. This lesson teaches you:

- Why "preparing" to do a task is basically the same as doing nothing
- The right mentality you must have to tackle any software engineering task efficiently, going away from the mindset that got you through school
- How to effectively dive into a task and get it done fast

[Timeless Career Advice] IC vs Manager

This video discusses how much the software industry pays in the US in terms of total compensation. 

In addition, we discuss the decision to be an individual contributor vs engineering manager.

Connect with Louie:

- SmallBets community: [**https://smallbets.com/?utm_source=taro**](https://smallbets.com/?utm_source=taro)
- Twitter: [**https://twitter.com/LBacaj**](https://twitter.com/LBacaj)
- LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/louiebacaj/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/louiebacaj/)
- Newsletter: [**https://newsletter.memesmotivations.com/**](https://newsletter.memesmotivations.com/)

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 20] - Do Not Lie

The tech job market is incredibly brutal for software engineers, and this can make less ethical approaches far more appealing, including with your resume. This lesson teaches you:

- Why lying on your resume ultimately hurts you far more than it helps you
- What to do instead of lying when your resume is struggling

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 8] - Intro Summaries

It's common practice for engineers (and almost everyone else) to include a paragraph at the very top of their resume summarizing their overall experience and explaining why they're great. This lesson teaches you:

- Why those intro summaries actually hurt you, especially in tech
- What to do instead of having an intro summary

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 14] - Work Towards The Team Goal

Software engineers aren't paid to write code; they're paid to solve problems. However, this mindset often takes years for engineers to truly internalize, often at the senior level. This lesson teaches you:

- How mid-level engineers and senior engineers react different when given a project
- The questions every senior engineer needs to ask when given a project
- What needs to be done in order to understand the true impact of a project

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 22] - Do Mock Interviews

Software engineers love working and studying solo, but this is extremely difficult with behavioral interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews are inherently collaborative and effectively require mock interviews to master
- How to get the most value from your mock behavioral interview sessions

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 20] - Write Stuff Down

Writing English is far more important than writing code, and this applies to mastering the behavioral interview as a software engineer as well. This lesson teaches you:

- How to create a powerful Q&A database to master the behavioral interview
- What you should be remembering from your written preparation vs. not

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 18] - How To Get The Level You Want

If you don't play your cards right, it is easy to get down-leveled, which means getting a level lower than what you were at before. This is very common in bad markets and for engineers breaking into FAANG. It's also common if you don't give an amazing behavioral interview performance. This lesson teaches you:

- The overall strategy to not get down-leveled
- Tips you should follow to maximize your level

To better understand the expectations at each level, go through this: [\[Taro Top 10\] Understanding Engineering Levels](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/e9rjATPbSyvRPsukXiHn/)

For resources on becoming a better engineer:

- [\[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)
- ["What are software engineering fundamentals?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3VNPK7wol76s89EkgFeW/what-are-software-engineering-fundamentals/)

Negotiation Course: Get Other Offers

Researching data points is helpful when constructing a negotiation argument, but the **best** argument you have is an offer in hand from a comparable company. 

The big mistake most tech workers make is to be reactive with recruiters. If you decide to interview with a company, figure out comparable companies and apply to them as well. (Google and a seed-stage startup are not comparable.)

Talking to many recruiters and companies at once is painful, but it's better to concentrate the pain in a short window, rather than spreading it across several months. You can also negotiate interview dates, though this is admittedly harder in a bad economy.

As soon as you have a verbal offer, push all your other loops to skip you to onsite using that as leverage ("Don't let the awesome candidate of me get away!").

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.