

1 Year, 11 Months at Google University - jmilinovich
http://jmilinovich.com/1-year-11-months-at-google-university/?utm_source=pr&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=hn

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qasar
What's fascinating for a company like Google in SV is no matter how good
things are, you have to constantly fight to keep folks like John from trying
their hand at early stage life. Overall I think it's great for the ecosystem.
This type of non-traditional churn (where employers not only have to be the
best of the "Big Co.s" but better than doing something completely on your) own
pushes everyone to create environments that are not only innovative and
rewarding but also fulfilling.

Being a founder and now at Google (John and I started almost the same time and
I know him well), I think what's notable about this post is when people
usually write "Why I left Google" they are sometimes backhanded compliments or
thinly veiled complaints.

What John is saying "I had a great time and learned a lot but I still think
starting a company is more interesting".

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weareconvo
Also he got stuck on the Internal Tools team, which is basically the gulag as
far as getting noticed by the higher-ups and promoted.

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jmilinovich
not true- I was on the Google Analytics team and the Google Offers team before
that.

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weareconvo
You mentioned "internal programs", I just assumed.

By the way, I worked at Google for 5+ years, then quit to do a startup. It's
hard, but you're in good company. Word of advice: come up with a clever/funny
answer ahead of time, because you're going to get a lot of "Wait, why would
you quit Google?!?"

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jmilinovich
That's great advice - the confluence of the opportunity, the team, and
personal circumstance made this the perfect time for me to go after my dreams.

Cheers, John

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unreal37
Less than 2 years is not enough time to really soak up the skills, experience,
connections, and solving enough difficult problems for it to be maximum value.

I guess I now kinda get why he's doing it, but he's taking a huge risk with
only 2 year of working experience total under his belt. Wish him the best!

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qasar
I disagree. I think working at a large company for long periods of time can
actually stifle your ability to be a great founder. You learn bad habits and
your intuition can be deformed by things which help you become successful at
Big Co but are useless in early stage companies.

Also, I'm at Google and I know John and his work really well. It's almost
laughable to imply it was involuntary. John is an all star. The guy actually
wants to do a startup because he find the challenge interesting.

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GFischer
"Building Authentic Relationships"? That sounds much better than the
Javascript courses :)

Google does sound like an awesome environment, but, much like the post author,
I'd like to try my hand at building a company.

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gojomo
Against such effusive praise, I wonder why someone would leave after such a
relatively short stint. (Maybe the next post?)

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dlevine
Agreed. Something seems off about this post. Having worked at Google and also
having founded multiple startups, I understand the allure of startups.
However, I have to say that in my experience, no one leaves a job that they
are perfectly happy with in order to found a startup.

The decision to found a startup comes from a deep dissatisfaction with the
status quo. Either because there is a problem you are so passionate about
solving that you are willing to drop everything, or because you are
dissatisfied with your existing work environment, and want to try to create
your own.

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jmilinovich
totally agree dlevine - in my case, life events happened that make me rethink
my risk tolerance and ability to go for my dreams (read my prior post for more
context)

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gojomo
Thanks for the pointer to extra context and good luck!

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staypositive
John's drive, focus, and passion will serve him well.

