Bryan Zug

When I first heard that Meta cut roughly 10% of its Reality Labs division this week, I wasn’t entirely surprised. Over the past few years, Meta has gone through repeated rounds of workforce reductions. While I have strong opinions about many aspects of how the company is run and the strategies it has pursued, what I feel most strongly right now is sadness for those who were impacted. That feeling is especially strong because it’s now clear to me that the layoffs disproportionately affected the optics research group—an organization that began 11 years ago as a very small and uncertain experiment. At the time, Meta had no real presence in optics or display research, and many people in the field questioned why anyone serious about optics would choose to come to Facebook. The people who did choose to come took real professional risks. They joined without guarantees, without an established reputation to lean on, and often without broad external validation. Through their talent, persistence, and willingness to build something from nothing, they turned that early effort into a world-class optics and display organization which is what most people see today. Their work helped redefine what people now believe is possible in augmented and virtual reality displays. I’m glad that many were able to land in new roles and can, hopefully, continue that mission. But I’m deeply sorry for those who were not. To everyone impacted, I’m truly sorry. I’ll offer just a few thoughts: 1. There is life after Meta. Many of us were fortunate to work here during a time when there was room to explore and push boundaries in ways few companies would allow. 2. Layoffs are complex and often random. One of my mentors used to say success has two components: results and sponsorship. You can deliver strong results and still be affected by forces outside your control. These moments can also create space for reflection on what parts of our careers and performance we own and can improve. 3. Our relationships with companies are ultimately transactional. Look out for your own best interests, because companies will do the same. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care deeply or give your all—you should. But it does mean being thoughtful about where you invest your heart. And remember, you are far more than your professional role. I know first hand, the people who chose to build within the optics research team at Meta are capable of incredible things beyond any job title. More importantly, we are also friends, parents, children, partners, mentors, and colleagues. We bring lasting value to the people and communities around us—and no corporate process can take that away.

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Jeff #Bezos built more than just a company - he built a culture people actually believe in. I’ve worked at a lot of companies, but Amazon is the first place where people genuinely embrace the culture. People proudly talk about “working backwards” from the customer. They reference “Day 1 mentality” in casual conversations. They get excited about writing six-page narratives instead of PowerPoint decks. There’s even an internal credo: “be peculiar.” And people ARE proud of the peculiar ways Amazon works. Do we do everything perfectly? Absolutely not. Do we get things wrong? All the time. But this peculiar culture stands up in the face of all that. You either love it or hate it—and Amazonians lean into that distinction. The difference? These aren’t just corporate buzzwords. They’re practical tools that people see working every day. That’s the difference between culture that’s performed and culture that’s lived. #peccy #bepeculiar #amazonculture​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 224/365

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It has been a 𝐁𝐈𝐆 week for safety at Roblox. Yesterday, we laid out our plans to expand age estimation for everyone wanting to communicate on our platform before the end of the year. This matters because: 👉 It addresses two key issues: kids & teens pretending to be older than they are and bad actors impersonating younger users to cause harm.  👉 By adopting the global IARC standard, we will soon replace our maturing ratings with regional ones - be it PEGI in the UK or USK in Germany. Parents already know these, so it's going to be simpler and easier to decide what kind of content is appropriate. But the vision is broader. We want our approach to communicating safely to become best practice for other online platforms... Expect to hear more on this soon! https://lnkd.in/dWDaSNpd

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I’ve seen a lot of posts this week about the Amazon and Meta layoffs, and my heart goes out to everyone affected. I’ve been recruiting and hiring through some wild job markets, and I’ve seen how tough and heavy this side of the cycle can be. If you were impacted, here’s my honest advice: 1. Apply for unemployment immediately. It takes a while to process. Most states back pay you for the weeks it’s pending, but please don’t wait. There’s NO shame in getting what’s owed to you. Times are tough, and this is a safety net for a reason. 2. Take your time with severance paperwork (and NEGOTIATE!) You’ll likely get a packet from HR with a severance offer and a release form (basically: you accept the package they're offering you, and you agree not to sue for wrongful termination). That’s negotiable like everything in life. You CAN ask for more money, longer coverage on your insurance, more time to vest equity. There's no guarantee that you'll get what you want, but you won't know until you try. Read all of your paperwork carefully. Do not have these negotiations over the phone. Get everything in writing. You don’t have to sign anything right away. 3. This market feels rough, but there *IS* opportunity. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the last few years have been wild for tech. The market’s uneven and highly competitive, but there are so many new AI and startup companies getting funded right now. When companies raise, they hire. Follow people like Tim He and Haley ONeill on LinkedIn - they frequently post about companies that are raising and hiring. Use LinkedIn, and honestly, use LLMs to help you research who’s raising and growing. 4. We're hiring at Evertune 💪 We’re building teams in NYC and Seattle. We’re hiring engineers, client services folks, a financial controller, and will be opening more roles soon! If you were affected by the Amazon or Meta layoffs, or if you’re just looking for a new challenge in AI, please reach out. If we’ve crossed paths before, or have mutual connections, I’d love to chat about what we’re building and how you could be part of it. This market is still very weird, but it’s not hopeless. Take care of yourself, protect your peace, negotiate, and don’t lose sight of the fact that there are better chapters ahead 🫶

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One of the unmentioned positives about the big company layoffs is that it causes a redistribution of key talent to other segments of the industry that sometimes struggle to poach talent from the big players. Often times in tech, you'll hear candidates only talk about jobs at the prestige places - you know Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, Amazon, etc. They won't even *look* elsewhere. This makes it really hard for other companies to land top tech talent. Not for lack of pay or interesting challenges, but because for years top talent only wanted to work at the biggest companies with the most prestige. I saw this at Disney, EMC, and other places that are big companies but struggled recruiting vs the FANG/MANGO companies. Massive layoffs offer a chance to fix that imbalance. Suddenly the prestige companies aren't quite as shiny and tens of thousands of employees who learned industry-leading practices are suddenly on the market and looking. This is a once-every-decade-or-two opportunity for companies outside of the top 5 to land incredible talent. If you are a hiring manager, *now* is the time to hire!

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Fun stat I learned while I was a leader at Amazon: Statistically speaking, if you have one woman on your team, then a year from now, you'll probably have zero. If you have two women on your team, then a year from now, you'll probably have three. Demonstrating that you're making space at the table creates diverse teams, and studies have consistently shown that diverse teams make better decisions, are more productive, and have higher retention. Diversity isn't woke; it's a virtuous cycle that clearly and repeatedly demonstrates improved outcomes. We, as leaders, should not only aspire to have a diverse team; we should be vocal about how and why we do it. When people see that we care NOT ONLY about the goal, but ALSO HOW we get there, they want to come along for the ride.

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