VP Product Meta (Facebook app) · Fmr. CPO Credit Karma · Google Photos, Hangouts · The Skip newsletter and podcast · 3× co-founder
JUN 11 2023
The Metaphor
The Dog Track Rabbit Problem
"The moment the dogs accidentally touched the rabbit, they would never run again. What's next? I've achieved what I was looking for."
Careers pointed at one rabbit — "one day I'll be VP" — end the moment the rabbit is touched
Ask instead: what is the second thing? What is the career after that?
Without a next thing, people keep working out of habit and get sadder, or create war where peace is needed
The whole episode is a case for building a long, meaningful career, not a short chase
Framework
Career as a Product
Short-term (traps)
"I dislike my boss"
"This company can't ship"
Chase the next job
Chase the next promotion
Lateral moves called forward moves
Long-term (Nikhyl's counsel)
Work backwards from end state
Think about the job AFTER the next one
Version 1, version 2, version 3
Current job in service of the skip job
Grit through ambiguity when it earns you the skip
"Almost think of career as a product. The reason I called my newsletter and podcast The Skip is because I always think about not the next job, but the one after it."
Break the arc into three chapters
Early · pick a lane, gather the story Mid · earn the promotion, don't confuse it with the career Late · teach, mentor, decide what "the next thing" is
The Warning
The Ocean Liner Without PMF
"This is not the company to join, this is the company to leave. Find another phase. Time's a wasting."
Ten years of hypergrowth ran on 0% rates and blitzscaling; the music stopped 18 months ago
Many scaled unicorns now look like ocean liners looking for product-market fit with 300 people on board
Half your comp is equity; if the equity is worth zero, you took a half pay cut without knowing it
Employees have almost no recourse; founders can recap, employees have to start a fresh 4-year clock
The exception Nikhyl names
Stay if the role itself is career-additive — you are on the executive team, you would not get that seat elsewhere, and you are learning as fast as you would anywhere. Loyalty alone is not a reason.
The Confusion
Career ≠ Promotion
Promotion (short game)
"What do I need to hit the next level?"
A company system to see you moving forward
Two-year targets, 18-month sprints
Ends the moment you get the title
Then, "I'll leave once I'm promoted"
↔
Career (long arc)
"What is the job after the next one?"
Skills, story, and range that carry over
A decade-plus arc built in chapters
Promotion in service of the arc, not the reverse
Ask "in service of what?" before every move
"How many people have said, 'as soon as I get promoted, I'm going to leave'? Then I ask, well, the promotion is in service of what?"
The logos trap
Netflix, Meta, Airbnb, Uber on a resume compound — only if the range grows with them. Chasing logos alone leads to sadness, not builders.
Management
The Sidecar, Not the Bicycle
The bad model (industry default)
Good coder → ready to manage
Can talk → ready to product-manage
Can ship → should tell people what to do
Zero real training, just organizational power
Nikhyl's model
Motorcycle with a sidecar; both hands on the bar, together
Vampire at the door: you have to be invited in
Earn the right to be someone's manager, ask "how can I help?"
If the answer is "get out," accept it and move on
Nikhyl on the IC path: "one of the best things that's going to happen for people's career" — the ladder is still setting, in six to nine months it will be solid.
Advice
What to Actually Do, By Career Stage
01Pick a lane early
Growth, craft, domain expert. Become known for a thing so the next employer has a story to remember.
02Write the press release first
Before the day-to-day, know the story you want to tell about this chapter of your career. Reverse-engineer from there, just like Amazon does with a product.
03For promotion, ask the real question
Not "how do I get promoted?" but "why haven't I been?" — your manager rarely gives the real answer. Nikhyl names four common blockers to check yourself against.
04Leave the ocean liner
If the equity is worth nothing and the role isn't career-additive, you are taking a half pay cut in silence. Time is the scarcest resource.
"Think about the story, think about the skill, then solve your day to day, your week to week, your month to month, your performance review."