Surviving a FAANG acquisition as a tech lead

Question

I've been lucky enough to have found my passion (programming) at a very young age and have been able to build a career from it. First as a developer, than making my way up the ladder as a tech lead and eventually CTO. Not so long ago, my relatively small and humble company (of which I was a CTO, not founder), caught the attention of one of the FAANGs and got acquired. I thought I had hit the jackpot. I was part of the lucky 1% whose startup did not go bankrupt, and I could now proudly have this achievement in my resume. Turns out the transition into this new company has been far from perfect. Ridiculous pressure. Extreme politics. Unrealistic deadlines, etc. On top of it, my LinkedIn profile has gone silent. Nobody seems to care that I was CTO of a company which got acquired. Maybe I was naive, but I was expecting this would serve as some sort of validation to the industry that I at least have _something_ valuable to offer, and offers would be coming in left and right. Nope.I used to be a high-achiever, go-getter, work-first type of person, but joining a FAANG through an acquisition as a glorified middle manager has completely ripped the soul out of me. I've gone from a positive, highly confident tech professional into a bad-tempered, cynic paper-pusher.Has anyone been through a similar sort of experience? Is the only way out of this to simply leave the company, or is there a middle ground I'm not seeing?

Mandatum · Accepted Answer

They're likely pushing you out, or you're just folding under pressure. The game is different at big tech. It's bureaucratic, it's political and it's heartless.
Are you expecting people to be singing your praises constantly after becoming a CTO at a FAANG? Forget that - you're just as nameless as you are before, except now if you propose to give a talk somewhere, you're more likely to be given the OK. CTO's are a dime a dozen, but now you're a FAANG CTO which helps, but also will probably be dialing your imposter syndrome to 11.
If the culture's changed and the golden handcuffs aren't very thick, I'd jump to a CTO of a non-profit or something you're passionate in - that is, if you've got FU money from the acquisition. There's going to be more CTO's than companies with the recession, so it's going to be tough.
You're also probably burnt out. Any acquisition is tough, and it just gets even harder post acquisition - the parent company wants it's pound of flesh, and they're not afraid to ask for it. Luckily you won't be the first on the chopping block unless it's clearly a technical limitation of the platform or product, it'll be the CEO. Sales are all that matter after most acquisitions, unless they're absorbing your product - in which case you're going to become a "Director Of Engineering - " very soon.
Engage an executive mentor, because it looks like you don't have one given where you're posting. Find someone who's served as a technical C-level (CIO in the 90's, CEO of a tech company, CTO of anywhere), and talk. It's lonely at the top, and you need to find your allies.

that_guy_iain · Answer

From my experience, getting acquired by a mega corp, always results in the entire dynamic of the job and company changing. You used to work for a small startup and now you work for a mega corp. They are two different beasts. You either get used to the new flow or go find a new job.People will only care that your last employer got acquired when you start looking for a new start up job and they want to be acquired.

PaulHoule · Answer

This is why we all roll our eyes when we read the first line of a press release that says "We are proud to announce that our company has been acquired by..."(e.g. Good for you, but all of their competitors will have their salesforce "dialing for dollars" because their customers will fear being forgotten.)