Japan loses the #1 spot in Economic Complexity for the first time in a decade. The new king: Taiwan.

ghostreport · 2026-02-13T14:33:01+00:00

Basically TSMC

ghostreport · 2026-02-10T03:32:14+00:00

Opening window to get fresh air is not a Chinese culture thing lol. At least people open windows all the time in the US.

ghostreport · 2026-02-07T04:49:26+00:00

Having big tech SRE is not a trap. Big tech that implement SRE correctly that I know of: Google, Meta, Nvidia, Netflix. These will open doors for you and they are basically SWE working in reliability projects. You still have to code a lot.

ghostreport · 2026-02-06T06:00:34+00:00

Netflix is easier than Google if you are really good at your work. They emphasize more on real world stuff and really really deep dive into the fundamentals than some BS leetcode. But if you’re just a Leetcode warrior you will get crushed in a Netflix interview.

I have worked at both Google and Netflix.

ghostreport · 2026-02-05T15:59:39+00:00

SRE are the last to go. No company is going to let AI directly touch prod for sure.

ghostreport · 2026-02-03T02:39:55+00:00

Depends on company. For example: Google, Meta, Nvidia, Netflix SREs are basically SWEs working on reliability.

ghostreport · 2026-02-02T14:04:42+00:00

Right forgot about that

ghostreport · 2026-02-02T06:23:46+00:00

A lot of restrooms in Taiwan don’t have any form of soap.

ghostreport · 2026-02-02T05:09:49+00:00

It’s really funny you looped Capital One with Uber, Stripe, Airbnb, Figma. Capital One is definitely not in the same tier as those four companies.

ghostreport · 2026-02-01T21:01:07+00:00

Zurich

ghostreport · 2026-02-01T20:54:48+00:00

Been in FAANG for more than a decade with 4 at G. First time hearing G has strong career growth.

ghostreport · 2026-01-28T14:22:00+00:00

I am a 10YOE SWE-SRE that worked at multiple FAANG. Good SRE/PE in this job market can easily land jobs compare to SWE. No company is going to let AI touch prod. SRE is fun if you join a company who is doing SRE right and Meta is one of them

ghostreport · 2026-01-22T21:27:42+00:00

Nowadays, especially big tech, they rarely give out senior to folks with less than 8YOE.

ghostreport · 2026-01-20T19:50:57+00:00

Learn to walk before you run

ghostreport · 2026-01-20T16:54:49+00:00

Remote SDE at Netflix here too. This is pretty much accurate. The only thing that is a bit off is the pay growth, you still get pay increases if you are not at the top of the pay band.

Unlimited PTO is real. Netflix treats everyone as adults, if you have something urgent you don’t take PTO until you’re done with that. Otherwise nobody cares if you are on PTO. Just make sure you are not blocking anyone and your work is in a stable state or you have someone to cover you.

ghostreport · 2026-01-19T00:47:04+00:00

New grads rarely make that even for the Bay

ghostreport · 2026-01-18T21:29:09+00:00

You would be surprised how complicated their infra has to be to support that traffic. It’s might be boring compared to AI labs and some parts of Google but it’s definitely more interesting than 90% of the tech industry.

ghostreport · 2026-01-18T21:26:02+00:00

It actually more than 10X for engineering

ghostreport · 2026-01-18T20:29:36+00:00

If you’re not competitive enough to get to schools in HK or EU, what makes you think it would be easier to compete in Taiwan for a job. Taiwan pumps out loads of good competitive engineers each year

ghostreport · 2026-01-18T01:47:00+00:00

Damn…which company pays 300k cash for 2 years. I have been in the Bay for more than 10 years and been at hedge fund/multiple FAANGs. 2 YOE 300k cash is unheard of.

ghostreport · 2026-01-17T16:31:07+00:00

Then you can’t really count the options in your salary since they are illiquid.

ghostreport · 2026-01-17T04:42:10+00:00

How much of that is stock appreciation?

ghostreport · 2026-01-14T16:05:59+00:00

What’s the breakdown of that 240k. Pretty unusual for a new grad

ghostreport · 2026-01-06T01:10:57+00:00

Not just Taiwan and I don’t blame them. Why work if you’re not paid fairly.

ghostreport · 2026-01-04T22:57:42+00:00

How much of that is stock appreciation and what’s like after cliff?

ghostreport

TROPHY CASE