Rockstar Software Engineer Story: SW2 -> Principal In Just 4 Years

In this lesson, we discuss a "rockstar" engineer case study, wherein he joined Mixpanel as a level 2 Software Engineer, and received 4 promotions in 4 years to become a Principal Tech Lead Manager (TLM).

- Key to his success was the ability to make rapid progress on one of the company's top priorities: reduce infrastructure spend.
- He had a hypothesis that the majority of the cost incurred came from a few customers where the economics were backward for Mixpanel.
- Rather than solving a gnarly technical problem, the engineer worked with these customers to change their use of compute resources, resulting in massive savings for the company.

For more resources about becoming a rockstar engineer:

- ["What's the core insight behind quick growth?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nJ762p255cGyuth36H6w/whats-the-core-insight-behind-quick-growth/)
- ["What's the difference between a low performer software engineer and a high performer?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nMxx2EMVIlJbl1oK4SGu/whats-the-difference-between-a-low-performer-software-engineer-and-a-high-performer/)
- [Mentoring Junior SWEs \[E3\] to Senior \[E5\] In Just 2.5 Years At Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/EX9563YnxcJb62cCmetg/case-study-mentoring-junior-swes-e3-to-senior-e5-in-just-25-years-at-meta/)

How Effectively Do Big Tech Engineers Perform In Startups?

In this lesson we talk about how engineers from big tech companies perform when transitioning to startups, and what hiring managers should look for when bringing in FAANG talent.

- **The sweet spot is 2-6 years of big tech experience** — engineers in this range bring the best of both worlds: they've been screened for talent and learned strong software engineering fundamentals at top companies, but haven't spent so long there that they've become rigid in their thinking or problem-framing approaches that may not apply in a startup environment.
- **Very senior big tech hires often struggle with the transition** — engineers who've spent many years at large companies can develop highly specific ways of doing things that don't translate well to startup constraints, making cultural and operational fit more challenging despite their technical depth.
- **Big tech experience becomes an asset when there's a specific scaling need** — senior hires excel when the startup has a concrete problem that matches their domain expertise, such as building infrastructure for massive consumer scale or managing rapidly exploding engineering teams, where their direct experience from companies like Facebook becomes immediately applicable.

How To Effectively Leverage Skip Level 1:1s

In this lesson, we discuss that the "skip" is the person that your manager reports to - It's what happens when you "skip" your manager when going up your reporting chain. 1 on 1 meetings with your skip are tricky as you can't talk to them the same way you would to your direct manager:

Here's how you can get maximum value from your skip 1 on 1s:

- **Understand your organization's overall strategy** - Since your skip is operating at a higher-altitude, they will be naturally well equipped to answer this question. Ask them what their priorities are, and you can then weave them into your own work to increase your impact.
- **Share "on the ground" insights** - Skips are generally pretty disconnected from nuts and bolts day-to-day work due to their seniority. As an IC, you are well-equipped to share what that experience is like as that's your life. This is really valuable, if you can come up with insights on how to improve this experience.
- **Be honest with feedback** - There's not much value sucking up to your skip and telling them that they're great and everything is going great because of that. Be candid and unafraid to share real problems with how the organization functions.

Related resources:

- ["How to make the most out of Director/VP/Exec office hours?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/GSihcOIzyP4sq5Gp1pWb/how-to-make-the-most-out-of-directorvpexec-office-hours/)
- ["Topics to talk in 1:1 with skip level manager?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/yK1UiPgm1EElzHRIqlM8/topics-to-talk-in-11-with-skip-level-manager/)
- ["What should I discuss in first 1:1 with my skip-level manager?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/WjBisBXMwLrSGO0mpR56/what-should-i-discuss-in-first-11-with-my-skip-level-manager/)

How Managers Split Their Time Between High/Medium/Low Performers

In this lesson, David Pan talks about how managers should split their time between high, medium, and low performers.

David argues that managers should **spend the majority of their time with high performers**, as they are the ones who are most likely to drive the team's success. However, David also argues that managers should not neglect medium and low performers, as they can still contribute to the team's success with the right support.

- 📈 **For high performers**, managers should focus on providing opportunities for growth and development.
- 🙂 **For medium performers**, managers should provide feedback and coaching.
- 😔 **For low performers**, managers should provide support and resources to help them improve their performance. If their poor performance is sustained, they should be removed from the team to avoid a negative impact on the rest of the team.

High performers typically do 80% of the work, while medium performers do 30% of the work. That means the low performers are contributing -10%!

Related resources:

- ["How to manage a team towards high performance?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/O8vtGxsrwZebiSSlOlRd/how-to-manage-a-team-towards-high-performance/)
- ["How does Stack Ranking work (at FAANG) and how can I be proactive at a base level?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/lScy3l2NPIrWvRuHOjcF/how-does-stack-ranking-work-at-faang-and-how-can-i-be-proactive-at-a-base-level/)

What People Get Wrong About The Manager To Software Engineer Relationship

In this lesson, we discuss the common mistake that senior engineers commit, which is that they continue to assume that the manager is an authority figure.

This is often the case, but doesn't have to be. David talks about a case in his past job where an IC on the team was more senior than him as the manager. And the IC engineer was objectively more important to the team, indicating the value of this senior-level person not only to getting work done, but also setting direction and giving feedback to others.

Senior engineers should view the relationship with the manager as a partnership rather than a person for whom they must *follow orders*. **The tech lead and manager have different but overlapping responsibilities in helping the team succeed**. Realizing this unlocks a more fruitful collaboration.

Remember, managers will frequently have blind spots that a tech lead can point out. These insights and observations may manifest in actually pushing back on the manager's plans or strategy. This is a role that senior engineers should embrace.

- More from David: <https://www.jointaro.com/topic/david-pan/>
- [Onboarding as a Tech Lead at Robinhood in 1 Month](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/X8vpfJooDpsX915ouC00/case-study-becoming-a-tech-lead-again-in-just-1-month-after-joining-robinhood-from-meta/)
- [The EM "Partner In Crime": The Tech Lead](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/uZQZlS6tdXbztajM0tqa/the-em-partner-in-crime-the-tech-lead/)

What Makes A Truly Great Tech Lead - A VP of Engineering's Perspective

In this lesson, former Mixpanel VP of Engineering David Pan (also ex-Twitter, ex-Amazon, ex-Microsoft) shares his wisdom on what it really means to be a tech *lead*, shipping projects effectively and leaving the team in a better place in the process.

- **Overview:** Tech leads are extremely valuable. They allow a team to multi-thread and execute on multiple projects at once, not requiring the engineering manager to babysit everything.
- **Understands the business context:** Great tech leads have strong product understanding and realize that software needs to be built in different ways based on the situation.
- **Project risk shrinks over time:** Great tech leads are constantly looking for ways to de-risk their projects over time. As things get closer to the ship date, the project actually becomes less scary!
- **Level up the team along the way:** Great tech leads figure out ways to leave the team in a better place than it was before the project.
- **If you're looking to become a great tech lead**: Get to know your PM, assess risk proactively and tackle the hardest items first, and find opportunities to level up your teammates.

You can connect with David here: [David Pan's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davepan/)

If you want to learn more about becoming a great tech lead, check out the following resources:

- [\[Course\] Tech Lead Blueprint: Role, Skills, and Strategies](https://www.jointaro.com/course/tech-lead-blueprint-role-skills-and-strategies/)
- [Becoming A Tech Lead Again In Just 1 Month After Joining Robinhood From Meta - Case Study From Alex](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/X8vpfJooDpsX915ouC00/case-study-becoming-a-tech-lead-again-in-just-1-month-after-joining-robinhood-from-meta/)
- ["How do I lead without authority?" - Staff Software Engineer \[E6\] at Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/question/BWv3hFSELbn59mXJbkNB/how-do-i-lead-without-authority/)
- ["How can I hit the ground running as a tech lead?" - Senior Software Engineer \[SDE 3\] at Amazon](https://www.jointaro.com/question/MiEPhSkzr8TRRSMRkrNQ/how-can-i-hit-the-ground-running-as-a-tech-lead/)

Figuring Out The Best Company To Join As A Software Engineer

In this lesson we talk about two strategic approaches to identifying companies where you'll thrive: following talented people in your network and ensuring cultural alignment with a company's core strengths.

- **Follow the talent you know and respect** — the tech industry is full of extremely talented people with strong integrity, and the companies they choose to join have already passed a meaningful bar; if someone you truly respect decided a company was worth their time, that's a powerful signal it's worth investigating for yourself.
- **Match your values against a company's core cultural strengths** — different companies have distinct cultural values (like Amazon's leadership principles or Netflix's emphasis on freedom and responsibility), and misalignment makes it far too easy to work hard without achieving meaningful impact or career growth, so understanding this fit upfront is critical.
- **Leverage your network to research company culture** — to discover what the culture is really like beyond the marketing materials, consult people in your network who work there or have worked there recently, and tap into communities like Taro Premium where engineers share honest insights about their experiences.

  **Related resources:**


- [\[Masterclass\] How To Choose A Good Company And Team As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/0WEmTNZOMIh8xAdfO3JH/masterclass-how-to-choose-a-good-company-and-team-as-a-software-engineer/)
- ["What's the best way to think about a team switch?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/NwXACx0n3JniBETi3f1E/whats-the-best-way-to-think-about-a-team-switch/)
- ["What questions can I ask a potential new team?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/dLS6KcDwKNdMDlJwYdBw/what-questions-can-i-ask-a-potential-new-team/)

David Pan's Career Journey - Becoming An Engineering Manager

In this lesson we talk about David Pan's unexpected transition from Product Manager to Engineering Manager at Amazon and the career insights that came from embracing an unplanned opportunity.

- **Sometimes crisis creates opportunity** — when David's engineering manager partner on the Kindle Fire project had to step back for health reasons just months before launch, David stepped up to do double duty as both PM and EM, which ultimately led to his manager offering him the permanent engineering leadership role.
- **The best opportunities often don't look like your plan** — despite his doubts about technical credibility, introversion, and fear of derailing his PM career path, David took the risk and discovered a fulfilling 10+ year engineering leadership trajectory spanning Amazon, Twitter, and Mixpanel (eventually becoming VP of Engineering).
- **Don't think too rigidly about career progression** — the most valuable opportunities often emerge from what the company needs right now rather than your predetermined roadmap; embracing these unplanned moments leads to growth and earns you the support of those around you.

3 Quick, Powerful Negotiation Tips

Negotiating pay can feel intimidating, but it’s one of the highest-leverage actions you can take in your career. These strategies highlight how to be persuasive, respectful, and ultimately successful in maximizing your offer.

- **Be kind but firm**: It’s possible—and important—to express appreciation for the opportunity while making clear that thoughtful evaluation and proper compensation are needed to make a long-term commitment.
- **Avoid real-time pressure**: Recruiters gain valuable insights over phone calls. To reduce information asymmetry, favor email, where you can be thoughtful and deliberate. Delay commitment by saying you’ll consider it or need to speak with someone.
- **Use neutral language**: Phrases like “That’s interesting” help you remain agreeable without showing your hand. Avoid affirming too positively during negotiations to preserve leverage.
- **Commit only at the end**: Only offer verbal commitments once the negotiation reaches final stages. At this point, you can say something like, “If you can meet $X in signing bonus or equity, I’ll sign tomorrow.” This gives the recruiter a clear target and a sense of closure.
- **Respect your word**: When making such final commitments, be sincere and only offer them if you’re truly ready to accept. This maintains credibility and professionalism.

The #1 Rule Of Negotiation - How To Avoid Giving A Number

- Negotiation is a dance: Know your role within it and have a script.
- There's an asymmetry here:
  - Recruiters are talking to candidates and negotiating every day. They come in very prepared and have a script.
  - You will change jobs every 2-3 year - It's a rare event for you to have this conversation. To level the playing field, you should have a script too.
- If they ask for a number or range, say *"I'm more concerned with understanding if this opportunity is right for me."* This is polite while positioning yourself in a mutual respect scenario.
- If they refuse to move forward within a number, you can try:
  - "What are typical compensation bands for this role?"
  - "I'm a strong performer in my current role and expect to be promoted soon, so I'm not sure what's fair."
- If they require a number, put a placeholder and say you'll get back to it later
- Asking for a number is generally a predatory way for companies to take advantage of candidates and lowball them.
  - This is why in California, it is illegal for employers to ask your prior compensation information

Related resources:

- [\[Course\] The Insider's Guide To Negotiating Your Tech Salary And Compensation](https://www.jointaro.com/course/the-insiders-guide-to-negotiating-your-tech-salary-and-compensation/)
- ["Negotiation - done via phone call or email? Modes and stating a number?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ggYVsodBllba5RmYrOtv/negotiation-done-via-phone-call-or-email-modes-and-stating-a-number/)

The Key Insight Behind Negotiation

Negotiation is fundamentally about leverage, and the strongest leverage comes from being able to walk away. Timing, preparation, and understanding the multifaceted nature of compensation are key to negotiating effectively.

- **Leverage is built through optionality**: The ability to walk away—especially when holding multiple offers—provides the greatest negotiating power. Desperation weakens a candidate’s position.
- **Don’t discuss compensation too early**: Deflect pre-interview compensation questions by focusing on mutual fit. Only begin negotiating after a formal offer is made.
- **Confirmed offers reflect high value**: By the time a company extends an offer, they've invested significant time and resources. With a low conversion rate from interviews to offers, candidates who make it to the offer stage are rare and valuable.
- **Companies don’t rescind offers for negotiating**: Especially in big tech, it’s extremely rare for a company to withdraw an offer just because a candidate is negotiating for better terms.
- **Compensation has multiple levers**: Salary, equity, and sign-on bonuses are negotiable components. Candidates can prioritize based on their risk profile and financial goals, trading one component for gains in another.

Why You Should Always Negotiate Your Offers

- Negotiation is particularly life-changing, especially if you're early-in-career. It's also really high ROI as the cost is effectively just a couple emails and some potential awkwardness.
- Negotiation doesn't hurt anyone within or outside the company - It's effectively a part of life when it comes to the hiring game.
- What you negotiate for isn't connected to your costs: It's about getting what's fair given the market rate and your current leverage situation (i.e. do you have other offers).
  - Even if an offer is good given your personal situation, you should try negotiating, especially if it's below fair market rate for that level/company/geography and you have competing offers.
  - You can always do something with extra money!

If you need premier negotiation support, check out our 3+ hour negotiation course: [The Insider's Guide To Negotiating Your Tech Salary And Compensation](https://www.jointaro.com/course/the-insiders-guide-to-negotiating-your-tech-salary-and-compensation/)

How To Negotiate A Raise At Your Current Job

Sometimes the goal isn’t to leave a job, but simply to be paid more for the work being done. Negotiating a raise internally is possible, but the dynamics are more complex due to limited leverage.

- **Internal raises are harder without leverage**: Simply asking for a raise based on merit often fails because the company knows most employees won’t go through the pain of interviewing and switching jobs.
- **Competing offers create leverage**: The most effective strategy is to secure a higher offer elsewhere and use it to negotiate a raise. This shows initiative and forces the employer to evaluate retention costs.
- **Company policy plays a role**: Some companies, like Facebook, may have policies against matching outside offers. Others, like Google, are more flexible and may respond aggressively to retain top talent, especially when the competing offer comes from a company perceived as a talent threat.
- **Raises typically come in equity**: When a raise is granted in response to a competing offer, the increase often comes in the form of additional stock (RSUs), rather than base salary.
- **This approach is a calculated risk**: Bringing a competing offer can trigger a raise, but it can also signal that an employee is willing to leave, which may affect internal perception. It should be done carefully and with genuine intent.

An Often Forgotten Part Of Tech Pay - Don’t Mess Up Your Taxes!

This video segment offers **critical tax advice for high-earning employees in big tech**, particularly in the U.S. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how taxes work with equity compensation to avoid severe financial consequences.

- **Set your withholding percentage close to your actual effective tax rate**, which for many tech workers is around 30%. This helps avoid massive surprise tax bills—sometimes exceeding $100K—during tax season.
- **RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) are taxed as income when they vest**, not when they’re sold. If the stock value drops after vesting, you’re still taxed at the higher initial value, creating a potential mismatch between tax owed and actual value retained.
- **Default withholding settings are often too low**, especially on platforms like E\*TRADE (commonly set at 22%). If not adjusted, this can lead to underpayment and steep penalties later.
- **If RSUs lose value and you’ve under-withheld**, you may be forced to sell more shares than expected just to cover your tax liability.
- **Some intentionally under-withhold to invest the difference**, but this is risky and should only be done with a clear financial strategy in mind.

Why You Should Start Your Career At A Big Tech Company

- **There's no universal right answer to which company works best for you** - At the end of the day, you should figure out what you care about and what your goals are and work backwards from there. It's entirely possible that Big Tech isn't a good fit for you.
- However, in a vacuum, you should start your career at a Big Tech company if you can. The main reason is that Big Tech is generally quite good at adding a layer of consistency to your career.
- You will probably learn a lot about writing good, scalable code as these companies know how to build massive systems and hire smart people.
- Your compensation will be very competitive, making it easier to negotiate proper pay and level at future jobs.
- You will probably develop a decent suite of fundamental soft skills as you need to learn how to work with many stakeholders to succeed at Big Tech.

Promotion Is Underrated And The True Foundation Of Your Pay And Career

Here are the core points from the video:

- In a lot of companies, promotion isn't meaningful, both in terms of growth and pay increase. *However, promotion is extremely powerful when you're working at a top-tier company like FAANG.*
- In a good environment, promotion is the most organic option to increase your total compensation as it means that your actual skill and increased pay are actually correlated with one another.
  - If you get promoted at a FAANG/Big Tech company, this sets the foundation for future opportunities as you will now be put at this level at least 95%+ of the time. For example, if you become a senior engineer \[L5\] at Google, it is very unlikely that your next company will put you below senior.
  - It's also crucial to remember that at FAANG/Big Tech, the expectations are quite real and quite high. By getting promoted to your level, this means that you are actually able to perform at this level, as opposed to the scenario where you negotiated an up-level via a job switch where you might be dangerously over-leveling yourself.
- *The problem with doing the interview prep and job switching grind is that you're not actually growing as a software engineer during that time.* There is a huge disconnect between interview skill and actual skill, especially with data structures & algorithms (DSA).

Additional promotion resources:

- [Nail Your Promotion: Senior To Staff (L5 -&gt; L6)](https://www.jointaro.com/learning-paths/nail-your-promotion-senior-to-staff-l5-to-l6/)
- [Nail Your Promotion: Mid-Level To Senior (L4 -&gt; L5)](https://www.jointaro.com/learning-paths/nail-your-promotion-mid-level-to-senior-l4-to-l5/)
- [Nail Your Promotion: Junior To Mid-Level (L3 -&gt; L4)](https://www.jointaro.com/learning-paths/nail-your-promotion-junior-to-mid-level-l3-to-l4/)

Job Switching Is Great For Pay But With Major Caveats

This video segment explores **job switching as a strategy to increase compensation**, acknowledging its significant financial benefits while outlining important limitations. It offers a balanced view of when and how to leverage this option effectively within a career in tech.

- **Job switching can deliver major pay increases**, especially when moving from lower-paying companies to top-tier tech firms like Facebook, Google, or Airbnb. Offers from these companies often represent a different compensation tier altogether.
- **The current tech market is highly competitive**, driven by remote work and talent shortages, which makes switching jobs particularly lucrative for engineers not already paid at “top of market” rates.
- **However, job switching comes with diminishing returns**. Frequent transitions (e.g., every 6–12 months) can raise red flags for recruiters due to high costs of hiring and onboarding, making a two-year tenure the informal minimum standard.
- **Banding limits how much pay can increase** through switching if already working at top-tier firms. For example, a mid-level engineer will only be offered a similarly banded role and compensation elsewhere.
- **Job switching doesn’t contribute to actual growth as an engineer**. Preparing for interviews (e.g., Leetcode) is time-consuming and doesn’t improve the long-term skills needed to succeed or progress to leadership roles like principal engineer.

The Incredibly Rare Benefit Top Tech Companies Offer - Equity Refreshers

This video segment explains **refresher equity grants**, a powerful and rare form of compensation offered mainly by top-tier tech companies like Facebook and Google. These grants serve as both a performance incentive and a retention strategy.

- **Refresher grants are annual RSU awards**, given in addition to the initial offer. Their size is determined by an employee's level and most recent performance review.
- **Compensation structure is formulaic** at big tech companies, including the calculation of refresher amounts, which often outpace inflation even in challenging economic climates.
- **Grants stack over time**, meaning employees may have multiple overlapping equity packages (original + yearly refreshers), significantly increasing total stock-based compensation over the years.
- **Year four marks a peak**, where compensation from the initial grant and up to three refreshers overlap—this is why many employees leave after their fourth year, as compensation often drops after the original grant fully vests.
- **Refresher grants are a major retention tool**, helping extend average tenure at top companies from around two years closer to four.

How To Navigate Your Stock Options

This section of the video explores **what to do with startup stock options**—both while employed and after leaving a company. It emphasizes evaluating offer quality upfront and making strategic decisions about exercising options based on company outlook and personal risk tolerance.

- **Understand the offer**: When joining a startup, it's important to know both the **strike price** (cost to buy shares) and the **fair market value (FMV)** of the shares. A significant gap between these numbers indicates more potential upside.
- **Don’t exercise too early**: While employed, it's typically better to wait before exercising options. Exercising early ties up personal capital and carries risk if the company performs poorly or fails before a liquidity event.
- **Exception for early-stage employees**: If the cost to exercise is very low (e.g., a few hundred dollars), it may make sense to do so early to start the **long-term capital gains clock** for better tax treatment.
- **After leaving the company**: Most startups require options to be exercised within **90 days of departure**. If there's confidence in the company’s future, it may be worth exercising all or part of the options—otherwise, it might be best to walk away.
- **Weigh risk vs. return**: Exercising options is a personal investment decision. If the company is struggling or unlikely to succeed, even favorable strike prices can result in total losses.

Understanding The $$$ Behind Stock Options - Hypothetical Startup Example

This video uses a hypothetical example from Carta to illustrate how startup stock options can lead to financial gain—or loss—depending on the company’s trajectory. It highlights both the upside potential of a successful IPO and the downside risk if the company underperforms.

- A fictional employee joins a startup, *Meatly*, in January 2020 and receives 16,000 stock options at a $1 strike price. After two years, 8,000 options (50%) have vested.
- When the company IPOs at $5/share, the employee exercises the options, spending $8,000 for shares now worth $40,000—a **$32,000 profit**.
- Alternatively, if the employee exercises at departure and the company later sells for only $0.75/share, the same $8,000 purchase yields **just $6,000 in value**, resulting in a **$2,000 loss**, not including taxes.
- This example underscores that **stock options carry real financial risk**, unlike RSUs, which are granted outright and do not require upfront payment.
- Employees need to carefully consider market performance and timing before exercising options to avoid losses.

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.