Why a Career in Industry?

1. Why a Career in Industry?

2. Scope of Talk • This segment will focus on technology-driven SV type company • Many other types, obviously, which are not covered here, e.g.: • Business computing • Services • Mgmt consulting • Will talk about high-level technical-track position • Academia vs. industry is a false dichotomy: A career in industry is towards one end of a continuum

3. What is “1 + 1?” “ACME Industries wanted to hire someone to solve a Really Hard Problem for them…”

4. The Profit Motive • Purpose of Industry is to make money Dr. Eldon Tyrell, from Blade Runner: “Commerce is our goal” • Work must be targeted – whether directly or indirectly – towards producing a commercially viable “product” • Primary path to goal: • Assess best features of what technology is currently out there • Improve upon candidate technologies, or create new ones, until you produce solution that… • Successfully addresses needs • Maximizes cost/benefit • Satisfies time and resource constraints

5. Examples • Sequoia: extent-based file system • ADS: real-time obstacle avoidance system • Toshiba MRI: Overall system architecture and UI • Arris: pharmacophore modeling and drug design

6. Pros: • Get to build real systems • Work is applied and relevant • Satisfaction from seeing actual use • Higher sustained intensity (pro AND con) • Higher “quality” of product -> greater self-satisfaction • Teamwork

7. Cons: • Don’t have luxury of extended exploration for intellectual curiosity • Some restraints on publication • Trade secrets • Allocation of time • Dilbertian “pointy-haired” politics • Actually, simpler than in academia (i.e., motivation usually power) • Much easier to quit

8. Industry vs. Academia vis-à-vis Academic Freedom • Even in academia, intellectual freedom has constraints: • Grad students: must align area of interest to advisor’s specialty and grants • Professors: must align (or recast) research definition to fit available grants • Constrained (subtly) by community’s self-definition • Straying too far from community “mean,” or trying to break into neighboring discipline, can trigger turf wars. • Industry often reserves resources for “pie in the sky” ideas, esp. at larger companies

9. Some Random Additional Observations onCorporate Structure • Expect to change research areas • Technical Track vs. Management Track • Some companies implement this more successfully than others • No tenure • But tenure can be a double-edged sword • Some politics • Personal observation is that it is qualitatively different from politics in academia • more simple-minded, based more on power, less on standing, prestige, turf

10. Industry’s Technological Advantages • Industry often has superior technology, but is more secretive • E.g.: SoftAPR vs. FEATURE • Access to real data, often generated for your application • Availability of better resources • As long as need is appropriately focused

11. Conclusions • A job in industry should be a strong consideration if: • You like to build concrete solutions to real-world problems • You want/need the satisfaction of seeing people use what you build • You should consider a more research-oriented career path if: • You want the freedom to explore wherever your ideas take you • You get distracted easily :-) • There is a wide spectrum of career paths – find your spot!