Yeah except your promotion isn't usually a level, it's lead, manager, director, or chief. You leverage that and walk to a slightly larger company in that new role after a couple of years. Then rinse & repeat once or twice and you just shaved off years of slogging through the FAANGs.
After all of the above though, I would put 2-3 years in at a FAANG and then do whatever the heck I want.
FAANG is usually used in the context of investments/stocks. These 5 have consistently been some of the highest growth tech stocks in the past couple of years.
I'm moving into year twenty of my career. I've done fairly long tenures at startups, culminating in a VP of Engineering role and subsequent acquisition by a Fortune 500 company. I'm now in the "big company" phase with a goal to bank $$$ via RSUs and then have a chance to go back to startups as a Founder/Co-Founder/CTO
True, but that relies on the company itself raising the level of work that it's doing to justify the title change. Coming from a small company with an inflated title just makes you look pretentious and silly.
Not really - If you managed a small team at a company, you've still got management experience. Bigger companies will recognize that regardless of title.
After all of the above though, I would put 2-3 years in at a FAANG and then do whatever the heck I want.