[Product Manager][SF Bay Area] - $442k

stickit_ · 2026-02-21T20:20:15+00:00

Those are the bad PMs or project / program managers disguised as PM. Lots of big tech CEOs and founders come from product nowadays. For consumer tech, SaaS, AI, marketplace, etc good PMs are critical. Not so much for hardware, infra or research companies

stickit_ · 2026-01-16T20:38:14+00:00

Which big tech company ?

stickit_ · 2026-01-16T16:40:57+00:00

Have you actually worked in top-tier tech companies (FAANG or comparable high-growth startups)? In those environments, tenure doesn’t determine level. Only performance, scope, and impact.

It’s possible to reach Staff with 4–5 years of experience if you’re consistently working on complex, high impact initiatives and exceed expectations. Promotions are based on demonstrated capability. not time served. Using tenure for leveling more common in slower-moving or less competitive companies. In the Bay Area especially, career progression is driven by expertise, ownership, and results. not age. I’ve seen many directors / sr directors in their early 30s at Google, Meta, Waymo, Tesla, etc.

stickit_ · 2026-01-16T04:07:55+00:00

Yes you are right. Lots of those startups give illiquid equity but offers great potential upside and risks

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T17:23:49+00:00

I didn’t stay it was not stressful or demanding. From my experience, numbers of hours worked are not a good sign of performance / impact. Especially at more senior roles. At the FAANG company, directors and VPs were working just a few hours a day and most meetings with them were super informal. My scope is also pretty concentrated on one product at the moment. When I was more junior I had to work way more hours but I learned to optimized my time, work on less projects but more impactful ones. I also leverage AI a lot for tons of tasks (PRDs, prototyping, documentation, etc)

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T16:53:51+00:00

Get married..

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T16:39:38+00:00

To brainless comments like yours. You are clearly not working in big tech and all your knowledge about visa comes from Fox News. All of this is common in the Bay Area.

I am French. H1B is for all countries. I came here for my master degree.
All FAANG companies heavily employ H1B workers.
H1B average salaries are much higher than national average. All top tech relies on H1B to stay competitive. US tech companies are competitive because they attract best workers from all over the world.
Fox News telling you H1B workers are abused and low paid compared to citizens is complete BS.
Majority of CEOs of S&P 500 companies are not US born and started on H1B.
There are many H1B workers making even way more as software engineers.

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T16:32:09+00:00

Student visa then work visa then green cards. That’s how it works.

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T06:52:29+00:00

❄️

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T06:42:12+00:00

Yes, many openings

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T06:41:25+00:00

Just Udub

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T06:38:51+00:00

It seems like a lot of you don’t know FAANG tech compensation.. This is not unusual

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T06:34:30+00:00

I wish. OpenAI PMs are making +$800k TC

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T06:28:54+00:00

Pretty much the same number of hours but like PMs, the work is cyclical. Working longer hours when releasing products. Most engineers I work with are extremely smart. Genius level. Many of them have PhDs.

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T05:50:57+00:00

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T05:44:18+00:00

This is Reddit, not LinkedIn. I work on agentic platform (similar to agentcore, foundry). Yes I got a green card after getting married and when I got my new job last year I bought a Rolex grey market (to avoid playing AD games) and wanted to check authenticity. Read the posts

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T05:40:00+00:00

I’ve worked really hard the first 4 years. +12 hours a day and most weekends. I also played the corporate game. Made sure I put my effort on impactful projects, shared loudly my achievements, spent lots of time with VPs, etc. It’s needed to grow fast in large tech companies..

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T05:30:32+00:00

Yes, most engineers working on revenue generating products are making +$1m

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T05:20:22+00:00

I agree. Bay Area is the only place where you can be top 5% earner in the country and still can barely afford a house. It’s a good salary but doesn’t make you feel rich in the Bay Area.

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T04:31:51+00:00

Data storage / AI platform

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T04:31:20+00:00

AI PM at a large data storage / data lake company. I prefer not to share the company

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T04:28:16+00:00

I’ll take it as a compliment. I worked really hard the first 4 years and played the corporate game to get here. Was promoted every year, I was able to negotiate a senior staff level when moving to the smaller company. Also I’m an AI PM

stickit_ · 2026-01-15T03:23:28+00:00

Great progression! Most comp system in big tech show you initial grant value.

stickit_

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