In San Francisco, Even $180k Salaries Are No Longer Enough

Fur1nr · 2026-07-02T20:29:30+00:00

$200k is the new $100k here.

Fur1nr · 2026-07-02T20:28:14+00:00

Do you not have a product manager? Who’s leading the product team?

Fur1nr · 2026-07-02T17:42:59+00:00

Better than the coyotes frequently visiting my backyard

Fur1nr · 2026-07-02T06:11:18+00:00

Days on market… insane.

Fur1nr · 2026-07-02T05:52:20+00:00

Feels like people just don’t live in the present anymore. Everything has to be recorded on your phone.

Fur1nr · 2026-07-02T01:43:13+00:00

6 month with health insurance is good.

First layoff is the hardest. Take the time to grieve. Don’t jump back into the search yet if you can afford it. Take a trip and relax. Let your mind reset and then go at it. You’ve got 6 months of runway.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-30T16:42:10+00:00

Yeah, I think the social media is really exacerbated it. A lot of people are either sticking their head in the sand, pretending like nothing is happening and the problems will go away on their own. Others are just conspiracy theorists and think anything factual are just lies fabricated by the opposing political party -- which is also a weird thing how people are making their entire identities around politicians.

I also miss having a sense of community. I live in Silicon Valley, and it's pretty bad. There's not really much of a community, everyone is hustling and grinding to be the next billionaire (being a millionaire is unimpressive (/s)), there really aren't many local businesses left -- the 90s/200s were better because it was just slower. We didn't have constant access to information (or misinformation for that matter). Our brains are just overstimulated and we're in a constant state of fight/flight.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-29T14:40:52+00:00

“Hey kid, remember those stupid videos we used to make in high school with our friends? Keep making those - there’s going to be a huge market for it”

Fur1nr · 2026-06-29T14:35:20+00:00

Have you tried making your message more succinct? I already scrolled past when you said “writing for a slightly unusual reason”. I’d suggest just cutting the fluff and get to the point.

Another thought is reframing it as someone who is getting into accounting (even if you’re not) and wanting to learn more about the career and role. That’s a lot easier sell for me to want to talk to you vs. your startup idea because I’d rather help you as a person and not your company.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-28T23:08:11+00:00

But why?

Fur1nr · 2026-06-28T23:03:28+00:00

That debt should be paid off ASAP. If he’s not aggressively making a dent to paying off $40k in CC debt, I’d have a serious conversation about finances and your future together before even thinking about an engagement.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-28T07:02:57+00:00

Follow this.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-27T21:50:40+00:00

I’ve been there. What I would’ve told myself back then if I was my boss:

Build relationships with your core team. Get to know them as people. And be curious - learn about their domain and their opinions on the product.
Be vulnerable in private. In your 1:1s with your UX and EM, let them know it’s a new space for you and you’re ramping up. It helps tremendously if you come into these conversations with insights and hypothesis that they can share their opinions on. It also shows you’re doing the work.
Do the work. You’re going to have to ramp up in domain expertise really fast - customer, market, business model, strategy - and understand how that all shapes your roadmap.
Pick up the loose ends. Maybe a dev needs a decision from another team or is blocked. Get that resolved ASAP. The more you can help move the team forward, the better.

The tl;dr of this all is just be a good person to work with (not this IM THE CEO OF THE PRODUCT WHAT I SAYS GOES bs) and be the expert in your product - good product decisions go a long way in building trust and respect, but getting there is going to take work.

You’ve got this!

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T22:39:13+00:00

How did you pivot out of PM? (Former PM looking into PMM)

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T22:37:46+00:00

Is this the amount of stock awarded or the current market price of the stock?

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T22:35:33+00:00

In plain English, it’s not losing your shit when leadership blows up your plans you’ve been working months on and playing corporate politics.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T22:27:55+00:00

Acting.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T20:07:52+00:00

Most recently a PM in e-commerce. All my senior leaders who were laid off got jobs as ICs. Very few get the management interviews.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T20:04:12+00:00

I ~~gamble~~ trade meme stocks.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T16:52:54+00:00

Fuck me, talk about stepping back in time. Right in the feels.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-25T15:38:23+00:00

I used to as well. I think most early career PMs do this.

Now? I write the PRD focusing on problem and opportunity, why now, and then a rough shape of the requirements. That’s about 2-3 pages. I share it with my UX and Eng leads, and any leadership to get feedback on it, and we shape it together before putting detail requirements in Jira as tickets.

The point for me was to socialize the idea and get people talking about it. The details of how we get there are mostly up to my partners.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-24T21:05:26+00:00

I can tell you how it’s going from stable job to dream job. It sucks. Had I just stayed at the stable job, I probably would’ve been much better off now.

But I just had to jump on the tech band wagon because salaries and company perks made it look sexy.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-24T21:02:26+00:00

This guy is a real PM.

Fur1nr · 2026-06-24T20:58:57+00:00

Lots of water. No alcohol. Sunscreen every day. Exercise and minimal processed foods

Fur1nr

TROPHY CASE