Yes, FAANG Prestige is Overrated

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[@mickylogic]

Honestly I found your channel solely for the leetcode problems to prep me for interviews, not your status. I judged the content as it was immensely helpful for me.

[@AnindyaMahajan]

Same here, man. Neetcode single handedly got me my last job back in mid-2022. It was only after I got the job that I realized Navdeep himself got a job at Google. I wasn't surprised though, just by the way he used to explain the solutions in his videos, it was obvious he would have gotten a great job sooner or later, at Google or elsewhere!

[@mickylogic]

@@AnindyaMahajan Happy to hear it! Yea no doubt, they say teaching something is the best way to help your understanding. Hopefully it'll get me a job eventually when the market recovers lol.

[@ゴール_D_マンサックス]

The irony is that people click this video or listen to what he's saying in this video because he's an ex-Googler, not because his advice is good.

[@abrahamlincoln5724]

True. If an average person had said this, then he would have been called jealous.

[@atift5465]

So true

[@yang5843]

I watch because his leetcode explanation videos are the shortest and most simple, that was when he first started

[@musicplaylist6909]

No I clicked because of the controversial title.

[@thedog5k]

True. But I clicked on it because it was anti faang. Idk who this dude is. But, that being said spending time on judging every source yoh encounters credibility would take a lifetime. It’s much easier to sift by google or not google.

[@herbst2941]

Bro, it's validation. People watching your videos don't want to change the world or engineer something revolutionary. They want to change their lives by joining some BigTech company and make their life and their loved ones better. Your expertise and knowledge are validated by Google. That's kinda simple

[@YeetYeetYe]

Is that why the average tenure at FAANG is less than 2 years? The companies fucking suck, the work sucks, and it's extremely stressful. Have worked at 3 FAANGs and I hated it.

[@asian1599]

ur kinda simple

[@mmx2731]

That's kind of depressing. If it's just for the sake of job stability, that's a bleak future.

[@shoooozzzz]

My theory: working at Google initially may have gotten more views on your videos. But the real reason for the success of the channel is the quality of the content. The Google banner drew people in, but your ability to distill complex problems into a way my brain can process them is what made me a fan.

[@KeithAdam]

There are thousands of engineers who make tutorials. You don’t randomly pick them. You filter for the best one to spend your time with. Choosing a faang employee is an easy filter for credibility. Idk why ur surprised ngl lmao

[@KeithAdam]

Yea that’s good marketing 5:50

[@KeithAdam]

6:50 yea that’s true but if ur gonna look somewhere generally for the best people, faang is a better place to check than some random startup. Outliers don’t make the rule. Law of averages.

[@KeithAdam]

One thing I can conclude from this take is that you are coming off as very genuine to the average viewer and they r more likely to watch u more. So good 4d chess move …

[@DavidT_510]

Prestige matters because it's another quick and easy way to vet someone. Prestige is no different than leetcode. Neither are perfect ways to determine how good a person will be at their job but most poeple would rather hire a software engineer that has been vetted and has worked at Google than a software engineer that hasn't worked at a brand name tech company, if that's all the information they have about a candidate. Most companies know leetcode is not a perfect indicator of a candidates strength but they'd rather hire someone that can do leetcode which shows they have basic programming, data structure, and algorithm knowledge than someone that can't do leetcode.

[@alienfunbug]

Thanks for the candour in all of these videos. You shed light on some of these anxiety inducing topics for sure!

[@akash-kumar737]

Excellent video. Finally someone speak it out loud. But we need something more solid to bust this FAANGASM bubble.

[@hosepink1124]

What are the other companies in FAANG"ASM"?

[@akash-kumar737]

Orgasm - faangasm 😂😂😂. It is just a made up word.

[@manasgupta4393]

Probably: Facebook Apple Amazon Netflix Google Adobe Salesforce Microsoft

[@fatcat22able]

“Adobe” lmaooo

[@jahoopyjaheepu497]

One of the things I like about NeetCode is that he has a proven record of success while also acknowledging that there's still a lot he can improve. It's not simply him being humble.

[@GameFlife]

Neet my respect is growing for u dude. This is what we do when we look out for each other

[@kennet2282]

Finally someone reminded me that tech is still pretty much meritocracy compared to other majors. Sometimes I forgot why I chose this major in the first place.

[@Dom-zy1qy]

Interesting take. Personally I don't think a true meritocracy exists in any industry, just due to the social factors of professional work.

[@kennet2282]

@@Dom-zy1qy well I agree that true meritocracy is hard to find. But if you look at like finance, pharmacy or law, only people graduated from top universities got offers. That is sometimes not the case for tech

[@ashwinnema06]

I started watching you before you joined google because you make good DSA videos

[@limsiryuean5040]

I think your channel met such a growth is because of viewers who want to break into the tech industry but have no idea what leetcode is about, so they look for headers such as "how to get into FAANG ". I was one of them before I began my CS degree, now i always have your website tab open all the time.

[@Lintlikr1]

I duno dude. I think your channel took off simply because the job market now forces everyone to take leetcode style technical tests. You had the right content available at a time when it started to become needed the most. Then the youtube algo recommends it more and more as it gains popularity which is the multiplicative growth youre seeing there. Now in 2023 you have to do leetcode style questions just to join a stupid stealth startup, not just to get into FAANG. Before 2021 there really wasnt as much of a need to study leetcode or algorithms for the vast majority of interviews

[@ibrahimalshubaily9520]

Your channel was super helpful for passing FAANG coding interview. Thanks you so much! the problem is the FAANG company was Amazon 😿 14 months later its time for me to gtfo.

[@s8x.]

nah i think ur being humble which is always better. but the reason why u have a platform is because u made the best resource for organizing leetcode problems, explain the solutions better than any other youtuber, and voice is relatively pleasant to hear compared to others. this my goat

[@Chris-qg6kc]

So true. I’ve worked at Amazon and I know a senior engineer who has a KZbin channel that he details how to build out full stack apps. He has all of

[@redwingbeast1396]

damn whats hus @ channel . ill check him out too. knowledge matters..

[@_anywhoo9748]

What is his channel name?

[@cw5948]

What does you having worked at Amazon have to do with this obscure YT channel you have watched 😆

[@Jendk3r]

ThePrimeagen uploaded his opinion videos on your content and that convinced me to watch. I kept watching preparing for the interviews. Didn't know you are/were at Google and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[@renatolovato]

Honestly I found your channel because of PrimeTime was commenting your video about how you left Amazon after 2 months, and I liked it so much because you were very honest about your "failure." After that, I watched a video which you were talking about software design that I liked, so I subscribed. But you are right, being a ex-Amazon, ex-Google, etc can show that you are at least good on code interviews, design interviews, etc but it doesn't make you good software engineer at all or at least better than other software engineers that have never worked by a big tech company. Anyway, at the end of the day your content is good, that is all!

[@tenkotalk]

Honestly, I’m here due to how much I like your opinion on things and the way you tell them in your videos. I binge watch your whole videos

[@akagamishanks7991]

This brother is so genuine and down to search its insane. Dude keep the amazing work you're doing. Youre awsome fr.

[@bigbigdog]

That's like asking why a LV hand bag is so much more expensive than a knockoff even though they are probably made in the same factory in China? Cause brand name matter to some people.

[@joshuacunningham7912]

Subscribed. Not because you were a Google engineer but because you’re grounded in reality. 👍

[@TheRewindRoom]

"Nobody cared till I put on the mask" - Bane. The mast being the Google's brand name.

[@DeanRTaylor]

Noogler hat

[@andrewbennett5733]

I have to agree with the idea that great engineers are everywhere. My tech lead at my last job was absolutely brilliant, knew the theory and the application, knew the 10,000ft overview all the way down to malloc, but he didn't care about big companies. He just wanted to build great things. After working with him I stopped caring about where I worked and just started looking for the right people and the right projects. Right on!

[@AlexRoy-h9s]

You are so real. Not even glazing

[@Axl124124]

because that is how the world works.

[@thedog5k]

4:02 This is true But having meritocracy in an evil industry is a null point.

[@gaofan2856]

Once you have FAANG in your CV, things start getting easier :) Being ex-FAANG is more prestigious (and companies will welcome hiring you with closed eyes) than being ex-NONAME.

[@mohamedayman7760]

he is spoiling us with these new videos. sending love and support keep up the good work

[@vishalkron1259]

Your way of explaining solutions is the best out of all I have watched!

[@NobleSpartan]

Google or not, your videos have the most intuitive explanations for LC on YT in my opinion.

[@euclid9492]

I think its just human nature that when trying to achieve a goal, people want to follow the methods of someone that has already achieved that goal. Most people who are doing Leetcode have the goal of passing a FAANG style interview. That said, I do think your content speaks for itself. Its just that your title draws people to your channel before they know the quality of your work, then the quality keeps them there.

[@arturfil]

I agree with this but also there is a signaling value that if you are in FAANG chances are that you are a good software engineer. Also as said, there are really good engineers outside of FAANG and could be just as good or better but it's not a concentrated pool. I do appreciate Neetcode being vocal about this.

[@piyushgoel3020]

I love your videos. They really helped me understand the problem.

[@lonerkid5550]

Thank you very much for speaking up with the toxicity of IIT's which not only is "dumb" as you say due to the efficiency, but also due to because it eventually kills the child in them.

[@jazzpants]

It's called marketing! The dream for a lot of engineers is to make it into a FAANG company like you did with Amazon and Google. They think if you can solve every Leetcode problem like you did on the Neetcode channel that you too can make it to a FAANG company like you did. Reality has set in for me already. I am lucky just to finally have my software development job. My dream to make it into a FAANG company (or a future FAANG company) is still there but I am doubtful anyone would let me in. No one will an old fart like me, even IF I have proven thru my job experience that I have continue to grow technically. :(

[@cw5948]

gotta get good at leetcoding which a lot of old farts are obstinate about doing

[@serioussam2071]

Relax bro ,I followed you before you got into google. I liked your explanation thats why I followed.

[@Ved3sten]

I think a ton of people got laid off, didn't get return offers for their internships. or were desperately looking for internships in 2022 hence why your channel blew up.

[@Therealbrez]

Personally I think that we should eventually get rid of the ex-[insert company here] engineer thing because you are right. I mean I think if you said you were an ex-airbnb or ex-salesforce, ex-oracle, ex-adobe, ex-stripe I mean I would still click on those videos. I mean your audience is nerds, aspiring developers or developers in industry. We know what those companies are and people I don't think trust that we do know what those companies are.

[@gnes04]

It's not just prestige, it's credibility. We'd rather learn from someone who has actually done what we wanna do. Than some random guy, who you don't know if you can trust

[@Saberking875]

I think it’s because you get a lot of viewers from India, all they care about is prestige. And all they really care about is getting a tech job

[@thedog5k]

Quality of work does speak for itself. It’s that people don’t listen. People are not necessarily rational, and they often do not have good tastes. Shiny object syndrome, fitting in, or even better “ being better”/ flexing will always be more popular than boring coding problems . “ bad tastes makes more millionaires than good taste” - Bukowski “ everybody want to be a body builder, but nobody wants to lift heavy ass weight” - Ronnie Coleman Nobody cares about doing leetcode problems and doing cs. They care about money and prestige. Not how you get it. I don’t even blame them for this one though tbh. Who wants to watch some nobody code? People generally struggle to think and appeals to authority makes it a bit easier for them. At worst, and at best it’s not worth the time to figure out if you are a good teacher. Go straight to the most credible source. I mean, it’s not complicated.

[@pablobear4241]

This video is very inspiring to me for some reason, and I agree 100%. I think the people in HFT/Finance seem REALLY smart, especially people who work at RenTech or are associated with Jim Simons. But, they will not get as much attention compared to a random FAANG kid, but a general truth I found in life is that the more obscure/technical something is the less popular it will be, FAANG is like a really good balance of that IMO, despite within FAANG there is probably some of the smartest people, but, those people exist anywhere is my point. Think also about all the people who didn't take a traditional corporate route who are very talented, I'm sure there is also lots of really genius engineers working for our government, or basically off the grid. Despite all this though my plan is to get into Google, then quit to pursue piano, and use being a GOOGLE engineer as a part of my planb. My first video when I get in will be. "How I went from getting kicked out of college, to getting a job at FAANG."

[@solmariuce5303]

what do you know, people are superficial. If it's for clout reasons then it's superficial, if it's to make a better living for their families it's perfectly understandable to go after what is 'sought after'.

[@pumpedupbro4200]

What you said it true and I blame myself for being one of the sheeps. I'll try not to be going forward

[@natisaver]

i came for your leetcode problem videos because they were 100x better than all the others back then, been here before the google, and I just want to thank you for the help

[@NeetCodeIO]

thank you :)

[@shooby117]

​@@NeetCodeIOyou helped me go from Mechanical Engineering in 2019 to software in 2021, and now a 200k+ offer after months of interviewing. Thank you so much 😭

[@chowtuk]

I did neetcode150 and joined neetcode pro, I might said I bought it not because you joined google, but your explaination is pretty deep and it's like solving puzzle step by step with us, but in my experience, the neetcode video before 2021 are not that good, some of it is hard to follow or some faults in it, but those after 2020 are very good. When I follow your video and thinking the next step or the next small problem in the question, you just said it right away and provide some valid solving way to us.

[@nagasaipurvaz4251]

Bro you know how famous your in our college, they always talk about you like a programming genius who left google to teach data structures to everyone

[@bbsara0146]

honestly I didnt know you made leetcode videos. I only saw you when primeagen reacted to your video about quitting amazon. Many tech workers also hate amazon work culture and watched your vid on it since it was amazon related. This isnt implying your a good or bad engineer because you work at amazon but that amazon has a lot of employees who watch content about amazon work culture

[@kieserel]

But why does working in a big tech should mean that a person is "legit", i.e. has done something worthwhile from the technical point of view? As far as I am concerned, half of you are busy moving jsons from one server to another.

[@brianolsen396]

It’s not brand name it’s the compensation packages

[@sunder-kirei]

trust me I did not know you worked at google, I came here for your soothing voice😅

[@SandraWantsCoke]

Damn, that's your best video

[@chien-yuyeh9386]

Bro, you’re awesome!

[@cguser]

It's hard to know if your advice is good if you not made it to Google. It's like a Dilemma of judging your quality of your leetcode videos or your advice. Even though I genuinely thought it is a high quality video and great advice. But if you not made it to Google. Then it kinda becomes questionable if your advice is actually good even though I genuinely thought it is good. So eventually having that brand name or prestige is some kind of proof that your advice and effort is legit. But it doesn't mean, some one's advice who does not work at FAANG is not legit. This is the world we live in. It is how business works. People give credit to the brand, that's why brand name and prestige exists. But it does not mean you cannot find great products that does not have brand name or find great engineers who does not work at Big Tech companies. It just that most people don't see those or give enough credit to the actual quality and effort it is put in.

[@Moch117]

This right here. Theres a reason big name companies so sought after for jobs

[@musicplaylist6909]

Keep living life and judging peoples advice based off prestige, and you will be blind to valuable advice when you actually recieve them. It doesnt matter who the advice comes from, what matters is if you think the advice itself is useful. A homeless man would give you advice telling you to be disciplined, yes the person themself has no credibility, but if you have any sense and critical thinking you can differentiate between the valid and invalid suggestions. This I see as a more individual problem than anything, and it comes from people who cannot sepparate quality of advice or product from quality of brand.

[@cw5948]

Clout is real. That's why I prioritized getting into a FAANG early into my career. It's a great resume booster.

[@sanketgode8717]

finally some one speak it loud

[@jasonhoman6525]

Because most people learn data structures and algs to get into Big Tech.

[@vaderCult]

I just want to crack the MAANG, see how it fits me and then decide my future. You crack it, prove yourself otherwise it would seem like you can't crack it, so you didn't even attempt.

[@mattf9076]

No its not. Previous work at FAANG is equivalent to the spice in Dune. "He who worked at FAANG, controls KZbin"

[@74Bagas]

was in music industry. it's the same

[@Bazif]

Love all your videos, happy to be the first here !

[@Andrew_J123]

"Nobody cared who I was until I put on the Google" - Neetcode probably

[@Ajeetkumar-uo4hf]

Brutally Honest ❤

[@johnapple3471]

Having youtube and brand gives your a financial freedom for a lifetime

[@empty_buffer]

People easily fall into the "social status" illusion. And tech industry is no different. They think if they have this "software engineer at brand" title will make them a better professional and individual. Its just human nature after all.

[@bbsara0146]

I feel like a lot of your viewership watches you for your commentary on big tech work culture rather than on leetcode or programming training. its not that peeople are only watching you because google and amazon are prestigious but they want the inside scoop on what the work culture is like

[@samirkumarpadhi]

You are correct branding clout plays its character. however the viweres does not increase because of branding but the content. I personally follwoed you because of leet code not for design or the Other videos that you share. Regarding IIT of India probably you dont know the entirely.

[@IwoGda]

If you look at other youtubers talking about their 10X moments it's almost always like yours. Grind grind grind (creating videos) and then there is a huge jump suddenly. I bet you had good watch time ratio on your videos. KZbin algo works that way. P.S We do not talk about 100x people who didn't make it and just didn't get promoted in algo.

[@fabianschwarzfritz]

Hey @NeetCodeIO, you have now 64 800 subscribes whereas your screenshot shows 600k subscribes. Is this a display error on my side :)?

[@NeetCodeIO]

The screenshot was from my main channel which is just Neetcode

[@fabianschwarzfritz]

Oh got it, I'm sorry :)!

[@pachakutiq266]

Lol people really do go after that prestige. I know a girl who chose me over some other guy just coz he's smart and works at google irrespective of what kind of a person he was 😂😂

[@XDarkGreyX]

People of all walks of life are so focused on prestige and it has been annoying me all of my life.

[@griffinkirkland9087]

not when recruiters are all over your dmat

[@hello_dayana]

that’s wild but it’s how it is which is why people REALLY want to work at google

[@xuzack832]

I can't agree more because I came from a country where this is 100X worse

[@refertechno]

What can be learned in 2024 ? What will be surprising techworld?

[@luckerooni1153]

Yeah, I don't care at all where you work. I care because you're the "leetcode" guy not the "FAANG" guy, no one cares about FAANG guy except other tech businesses.

[@MaxFung]

a bunch of sad engineers dreaming of being in FAANG who don’t have the critical thinking skills to realize that great problem solvers should make their own paths in life, not follow

[@dailyclipmafia5041]

Because if im trying to get into google but the guy im learnding from cant either how can i expect to get in from his content? Thats why nick white fell off

[@sumitsharma6738]

Brand Name matters !!

[@AdamFiregate]

You have 71.5k subs. Where is 300k if I may ask?

[@NeetCodeIO]

My main channel @NeetCode

[@bbsara0146]

I think you are confusing who your audience is. I think your original viewship was your audiance for coding tutorials and leetcode training. and the big spike is the audience of people who consume "big tech work culture" content. there is no chance there is an audiance of people who ONLY consume leetcode training from only people who work at prestigious companies.

[@bananesalee7086]

Blind sold you really well, based on talent only

[@Happyduderawr]

You are like the opposite of Tech Lead haha. (Thats a compliment).

[@MuscleTeamOfficial]

Ur overthinking it... ppl will look for what they want... they want to be in FANG, so they value it and try to mimic. Same way ppl listen to roided ppl for advice instead of skinny people for muscle building :/ Like how many times are u gonna have to have a stream and ppl will pester u with 'ex-Fang' or 'what editor?' or any other comments that dont really add value to the topic? Always, on every damn twitch tech streamer I've ever been on... All of the legit engineers can see thru this trivia shit and the influencer-engineers :) and are sitting there like, w0t is hap0ning?. Plus, the industry of finding tech jobs for ppl is huge. Glad you're not falling into that mental trap about FAANG = good, no FAANG = bad. I'll argue from the other end of it, what other company will pay u big to do so little or be mediocre once you're in? Definitely not a non-Faang company lol... At big companies, especially fangs, u will see the same thing over and over... 10% of the pop doing all the work and 90% just chilling and collecting the benefits. Those 10% are mobile.

[@princeplayz8374]

i really look uo to you

[@teachd.marshal1066]

i want to subscribe but im already subscribed

[@jaiveersingh5538]

*inhale* Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask...

[@nikhil199029]

you have misred the situation, most people who followed you atter 2021 didnt even know you were in google. May be the youtube algorithm became biased.

[@mariansalam]

The referral beggars in the stream comments are so cringeworthy

[@arthura9619]

No

[@harrisjohnson9109]

Your growth likely does not have much to do with Google. If you look at the growth for other channels, all of them follow a exponential curve before leveling off. This is nothing new.

[@dubey1akash]

🙂

[@edwardteach2]

You a God

[@CheeseStickzZ]

Geeks, bruv

[@alpotato6531]

based

[@piyush10793]

Nah it isn’t overrated, I actually think it’s underrated just how much prestige and name brands can open up your career opportunities.

[@YawarMurtaza-z9k]

Join NASA when you reach 1million subscribers leave 😅😅

[@shivateja5714]

I subscribed because of quality of your work,Just got know you worked in google last week