Academia, startups, big tech, and back again
The article discusses the author's diverse career journey through academia, big tech, and startups. It emphasizes the importance of exploring various career paths rather than settling into one job. The author advocates for continuous learning and curiosity over complacency in one's professional life.
- ▪The author has transitioned between academia, big tech, and startups multiple times.
- ▪Many colleagues expressed interest in making similar career changes but hesitated due to fear.
- ▪The author believes that trying different jobs fosters learning and growth rather than settling into one occupation.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Austin Z. Henley I build tools for people [email protected] @austinzhenley github/AZHenley Home | Publications | Teaching | Blog Academia, startups, big tech, and back again 5/17/2026 People tell me I have a weird resume. From academia to a big company to a few startups, back to academia, and then another startup before going back to a big company. Zig, zag, ping, pong. When I first switched from tenure-track faculty to Big Tech™, a lot of faculty reached out to me. They had been thinking about doing the same thing, usually for years, and wanted to know how I finally made the leap and whether it was everything they dreamed it would be. I didn't understand why they never did anything about it.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hacker News (Newest).
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