{"id":23346,"date":"2026-08-13T19:34:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T19:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/what-people-really-think-about-ic-work\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T19:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T19:34:57","slug":"what-people-really-think-about-ic-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/what-people-really-think-about-ic-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What people *really* think about IC work."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p><em><span>(Disclosure: This post is part of a paid partnership with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena+Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer&amp;typeform-source=www.elenaverna.com\">Typeform<\/a><span>, including the use of the Research Flow platform at no cost. All of the findings and analysis are my own.)<\/span><\/em><span\/><\/p>\n<p><span>IC work. So hot right now. I\u2019ve seen it myself, going back to an IC role at Lovable. And a few months ago, I said that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/p\/ic-work-is-the-new-career-flex\"><span>IC work is the new career flex<\/span><\/a><span> and it ended up being my most-engaged post ever. So, seems like there\u2019s something there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>So I decided to dig a bit deeper. I ran a study!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Some of my favorite highlights:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><strong><span>Yep, people want to do IC work: <\/span><\/strong><span>71% of people (including managers!) want <\/span><em><span>at least<\/span><\/em><span> half of their time to be spent on IC work. 27% said they <\/span><em><span>only<\/span><\/em><span> want to do IC work.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong><span>Manager-turned-ICs wouldn\u2019t trade it for anything: <\/span><\/strong><span>75%+ of this group said they wouldn\u2019t trade roles with <\/span><em><span>anyone<\/span><\/em><span> in the org. (vs. ~30% of current managers.)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong><span>The IC cost is\u2026 influence:<\/span><\/strong><span> Yep, 32% mentioned comp. But 66% of people said the <\/span><em><span>main<\/span><\/em><span> downside of being an IC is lack of influence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>But the numbers themselves weren\u2019t the main thing. This was not just a quick-click survey. I teamed up with the Typeform team to try out their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/research-flow?utm_source=influencer&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=researchwave1&amp;utm_content=elena\"><span>new Research Flow product<\/span><\/a><span> to do a full-on panel of AI-moderated interviews. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We ended up getting 300+ people to talk through their career experience, their perspective, and what matters to them. And then used The Power of almighty AI to analyze and make sense of a huge amount of qual data, very quickly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In this post, I\u2019m going to focus on the experiences of a few particular groups of responses: people who have already made the jump from manager back to IC, plus those who are in management and considering making the swap. And then a group I didn\u2019t really think about at first: the \u2018player coaches\u2019 who say they\u2019re currently working as a manager AND as an IC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Why did they do it? Do they regret it? What roles do they most envy in their orgs? Let\u2019s find out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span>In every newsletter, I feature a few products and services that I personally recommend or am trying out. Let me know what you think:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!z9xz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce35fd20-a9ec-4524-8ceb-c19c789d45a3_1844x344.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!z9xz!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce35fd20-a9ec-4524-8ceb-c19c789d45a3_1844x344.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!z9xz!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce35fd20-a9ec-4524-8ceb-c19c789d45a3_1844x344.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!z9xz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce35fd20-a9ec-4524-8ceb-c19c789d45a3_1844x344.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!z9xz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fce35fd20-a9ec-4524-8ceb-c19c789d45a3_1844x344.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.passionfroot.me\/amplify\"><span>\u2192 Passionfroot Amplify<\/span><\/a><\/strong><span>: I\u2019m a big fan (and investor)! They help connect companies with b2b creators, and they recently announced something new: while their platform is primarily a marketplace to connect companies with b2b creators, Passionfroot Amplify is a service where they run influencer campaigns, beginning to end. They\u2019ll help you figure out the story, find the right creators, and run the whole campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span> Check it out:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><strong><span> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.passionfroot.me\/amplify\"><span>Learn more.<\/span><\/a><\/strong><span> Can you find me on their landing page??<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena%20Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer\">\u2192 Research Flow by Typeform<\/a><\/strong><span>: The star of this very newsletter! I ran this entire study with the Research Flow product and got to work closely with the Typeform team to hear their vision for it. I\u2019m excited for all teams (growth, marketing, product, everybody) to get to do way more high-quality qual research.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> <\/span><em><strong><span>Offer: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena%20Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer\">Schedule a demo and get $500 off<\/a><span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> <\/span><em>See terms and conditions.<\/em><span style=\"min-width:0;\" data-state=\"closed\"\/><span><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/go.lindy.ai\/growth-scoop\"><span>\u2192 Lindy Teammate<\/span><\/a><\/strong><span>: I\u2019m exploring this one because I still haven\u2019t found AI agents that I love, and the Lindy team seems to be on the right track. They just launched this week, with the goal of a digital team member who can do stuff for your team right from Slack, using your company context (meetings, docs, etc etc). Things that marketing\/growth teams hate: Tracking down data from obscure locations, building decks\/dashboards, completing boring recurring tasks. So I\u2019m hoping that Lindy Teammate will make these problems disappear.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> <\/span><em><strong><span>Offer: <\/span><\/strong><\/em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/go.lindy.ai\/growth-scoop\"><span>50% off for 3 months + 7-day trial.<\/span><\/a><\/strong><span><span> Use that link to get the discount!<\/span><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There\u2019s a lot here, so feel free to skip to the parts you find most interesting:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span>Part 1: Key findings<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Part 2: Former-manager ICs are \u2018getting their life back\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Part 3: Player Coaches love it or hate it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Part 4: <\/span><span>IC-leaning managers are trapped by golden handcuffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Part 5: <\/span><span>How to build High-impact ICs (HI-Cs)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"1578\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1578,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1320402,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!GvyK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3125efcf-8085-4fca-b3c6-556867071aff_2048x2220.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>What type of work do most people want to do? The assumption I\u2019ve seen for my whole career is that people want to be managers and do management work. But if you strip out the perks of management, we found that this isn\u2019t the case:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Q8: If compensation, title, and prestige were identical, which role would you choose?<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png\" width=\"654\" height=\"377\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/dd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:377,&quot;width&quot;:654,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AE5G!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd58d99b-55ee-464d-b863-ef150fbe2227_654x377.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span>That\u2019s right: The largest group (27%) want to stay 100% focused on IC work. 71% want at least half their time to be spent on IC tasks! Out of 320 respondents, only 35 want to do all management, all the time. (And of those 35: 31 are current managers or player-coaches! Only 4 ICs in the whole study would choose to do 100% management.) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The interest in IC work holds up even when we filter for those currently in management roles:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\"><span>Q8: If compensation, title, and prestige were identical, which role would you choose? <\/span><br \/><\/span><\/strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">(Filtered by <\/span><span data-color=\"#f8a848\" style=\"color:rgb(248, 168, 72);\">\u2018I\u2019m currently a manager and want to stay in management\u2019<\/span><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\"> and \u2018<\/span><span data-color=\"#f8a848\" style=\"color:rgb(248, 168, 72);\">I\u2019m currently a manager and have considered returning to IC work.\u2019<\/span><\/em><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png\" width=\"670\" height=\"377\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:377,&quot;width&quot;:670,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Z4RW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F55ff797b-c370-407d-9c22-4a7e96b29441_670x377.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The largest group (24%) want to be 100% IC, and 57% want at least half of their time to be spent as an IC. Only 25 out of 128 managers would choose to do 100% management work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When we asked about the main benefits of management, the top answer was coaching and mentorship. But influence and comp were close behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Q9: What do you think is the main benefit of being in a management role? It\u2019s okay if you have not been in this type of role, just share your beliefs. Select your top choice.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png\" width=\"873\" height=\"430\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/e0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:430,&quot;width&quot;:873,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!AEHm!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe0de78db-02a1-44d3-811f-710ce7ef36f0_873x430.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The top answer was growing others through coaching\/mentorship (29%), closely followed by having greater influence over decisions\/strategy (26%) and higher comp (24%).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When asked about the downsides\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Q10: What do you think is the biggest downside of being in a management role? It\u2019s okay if you have not been in this type of role, just share your beliefs about this type of role. Select your top choice.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png\" width=\"866\" height=\"424\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:424,&quot;width&quot;:866,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!lPpM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F547a273f-c316-419d-8fd6-fa9f30876f26_866x424.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><em><span>Just FYI: We allowed multiple-choice for the \u2018downside\u2019 questions &#8211; which is why you get more than 100%<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span>Not too surprising: Mostly focused on too much time in meetings (27%), less time for hands-on work (25%), and navigating politics (23%). Responsibility for other people\u2019s careers (19%) and outcomes (17%)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>Managers also hated meetings (27%). But it was interesting that ICs with no management experience (both those who want to stay IC and those interested in management) significantly overestimated how much politics and loss of hands-on work would bother current managers. These ICs picked \u2018navigating organizational politics\u2019 at 32%, which was almost double what actual managers picked (16%). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This was even more dramatic for \u2018less time for hands-on work\u2019: this was the top perceived downside of management for ICs (39% of them selected this!), but only 19% of the actual managers mentioned this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>People were surprisingly consistent with the main thing they liked about IC work:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Q11: What do you think is the main benefit of being an individual contributor (IC)? Select your top choice.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png\" width=\"863\" height=\"411\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:411,&quot;width&quot;:863,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!Ei2l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ef23c16-68c7-42b6-9f99-0272ec318b3b_863x411.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>That was true across current managers, ICs, and player coaches. Although player coaches actually said that \u2018Having a direct impact through my own work\u2019 was almost as high! (23% vs. 24%)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When looking at the cost of staying IC, comp was the top response (32%). But\u2026 \u2018Fewer opportunities to influence company strategy\u2019 was close behind (30%)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And when you consider all of the closely-related responses, Influence is clearly the most common factor: \u2018Fewer opportunities to influence company strategy\u2019 + \u2018Less influence over organizational decisions\u2019 + \u2018Less opportunity to shape the direction of a team or company\u2019 + \u2018Limited ownership outside my area of expertise\u2019&#8230; altogether, you get 66% of respondents saying that organization influence is the main downside of staying IC!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Q12: What do you think are the biggest downsides of being an individual contributor (IC)? Select your top choice.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"506\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:506,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!LnUP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2275b1f7-ee4b-49a4-b75f-fae9d5013563_2048x712.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Managers were similar: 34% said comp was the biggest issue. 63% chose one of the influence-focused categories! And 31% of Player Coaches said comp, with 55% <\/span><strong><span>indicating some type of influence.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Want to run your own studies with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/research-flow?utm_source=influencer&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=researchwave1&amp;utm_content=elena\"><span>Research Flow<\/span><\/a><span><span>? <\/span><br \/><\/span><\/strong><span>Schedule a demo with the Typeform crew.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-attrs=\"{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena%20Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Schedule a demo&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}\" data-component-name=\"ButtonCreateButton\" class=\"button-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena%20Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer\" class=\"button primary\"><span>Schedule a demo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>This is the group I was most interested in. When I originally wrote that \u2018IC work is the new career flex\u2019 article, this is the group I was thinking about. So, it was cool to hear the real stories of 22 people who have gone through it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One participant\u2019s story really stood out to me:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u2018About two years ago, I was <\/span><strong><span>laid off from a role as director of product<\/span><\/strong><span> and started a consulting firm, initially to offer product strategy consulting to early stage companies. In the summer of 2025, I did a lot of exploration with vibe coding tools and pivoted my business to focus more on helping early stage companies quickly validate their ideas with MVPs built via AI. That led to a <\/span><strong><span>consulting engagement<\/span><\/strong><span> helping an established company build a proof of concept, and then I came on full time, as an <\/span><strong><span>individual contributor vibe coder<\/span><\/strong><span>. I report to the CPO but my days are spent building and enhancing and stabilizing the application. And <\/span><strong><span>I\u2019ve never had more fun in 20+ years of my career<\/span><\/strong><span>.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Turning a layoff into a solopreneur strategy? I love it. Plus, jumping into vibecoding and using that to step into IC work is amazing. The study agent followed up to ask for more details: \u2018What is it about doing the building yourself now that feels more fun than being a director?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u2018I think it\u2019s a couple of things. One, first, as a director-level product leader, I had, you know, my days were mostly meetings. And I rarely had any time to feel like I actually delivered anything myself. Whereas in my current role, <\/span><strong><span>I am the cycle<\/span><\/strong><span> from ideation to definition to implementation takes you know, minutes to hours, maybe days. At the most. And <\/span><strong><span>I love the sense of actually building and delivering something of value multiple times a day.<\/span><\/strong><span>\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>His comments about his quality of life sounded very very familiar:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u2018So the interesting thing is I have more job satisfaction and less professional frustration than I\u2019ve had in years of product leadership. So in that sense, it makes my work life balance and my quality of life much better. But on the flip side, <\/span><strong><span>I am having too much fun<\/span><\/strong><span>. I think it\u2019s largely driven by my enjoyment, and <\/span><strong><span>I am working too much<\/span><\/strong><span>. Which pulls my quality of life holistically down a little bit. So from just a purely job satisfaction and satisfaction in general, I would say, uh, very much improved. From a work-life balance perspective, it\u2019s slightly improved. <\/span><strong><span>I\u2019m probably working longer hours, but the time that I\u2019m not working, I\u2019m happier, and I\u2019m more present.<\/span><\/strong><span>\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>When your main downside is that you\u2019re having <\/span><em><span>too much fun<\/span><\/em><span> at work, so that it\u2019s affecting your work-life balance, that\u2019s usually a good thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png\" width=\"390\" height=\"290.48275862068965\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:432,&quot;width&quot;:580,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:390,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!jCgs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8134aad3-c056-4a30-95cf-33e83f0c5ac4_580x432.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>That particular story wasn\u2019t unique. Throughout almost every single one of the responses in this group, the managers who returned to IC work described a similar life upgrade:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span>Sr IC, Engineering (Berlin): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I noticed the level of energy. Before, I felt rather like a routine type of day. Now I sleep well. And I\u2019m quite creative. I started a side project, open source, and interestingly I now have two investor calls next week.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Sr IC, Design (Austria): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I\u2019m in my forties. I have a family. I don\u2019t need to put all of myself in my work.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Director, HR (Bay Area): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I have more time to spend with my family. I have more time to focus on one or two projects and deliver quality and depth.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Sr IC, Research (Michigan): <\/span><em><span>\u2018When my workday is done, my workday is done. I don\u2019t need to be attentive to emails or DMs from my direct reports.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>I\u2019m not saying that switching back to IC is all rainbows and unicorns. One former manager swapped to a senior product IC role because the pay was just too good, but ended up regretting it:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u2018[It\u2019s] a bit of buyer\u2019s remorse. You know, look, the grass looks greener on the other side. As soon as I made the jump back into an IC role, the roles and responsibilities in the day to day, I miss being a manager.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The other thing that really surprised me about this group was their responses to the open \u2018Whose role do you envy in the company\u2019 question. Most of them said\u2026 nobody! Seriously. Check out their answers:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><em><span>\u2018No. <\/span><strong><span>I don\u2019t envy anyone else in the business<\/span><\/strong><span>. I really enjoy what I do, and I suppose I\u2019m in a very fortunate position that I can span many areas of the business and get involved in any area.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><span>\u2018<\/span><strong><span>I don\u2019t know that I really envy anyone\u2019s role.<\/span><\/strong><span> [Before, in my previous role\u2026] I was envious of teams that were able to ship faster than my team was able to, and I moved myself. To a position where I could ship more quickly. And so would say at the moment, I\u2019m enjoying the things that I\u2019m learning in my role and not particularly looking at another role with envy.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><span>\u2018Honestly, <\/span><strong><span>I don\u2019t really envy any other roles<\/span><\/strong><span>. I really like my role. I like it the best of any role.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><span>\u2018<\/span><strong><span>Nobody.<\/span><\/strong><span> I think when I was managing people, I had team sizes of up to 20, 25. It was actually a role that I\u2019m doing now that I envied. I envied people who could just kind of come in with their laptop, grab a desk, just get on with their day and not get disturbed. \u2026 But when you\u2019re running a team, you really can\u2019t do that. You have to be there and present. So, yeah, I did envy those people, but it\u2019s something that I can do now, which is nice.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><span>\u2018I\u2019m thinking about this. I\u2019m not sure. Oh, okay. I think probably the people who do ops. No. Maybe maybe the program managers. No. I don\u2019t know. <\/span><strong><span>I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s anyone whose job I really want.<\/span><\/strong><span> Happy in my job.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>They just keep going. I was going to paste in all 16 of them, but I think you get the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Out of the handful of people who chose another role in their company, one person said their CEO (he admired how much he could get done) and one said Director of Product (because the respondent had been demoted, and that was the role he would have had). Other than that, the only other responses that didn\u2019t say \u2018no one\u2019 were just senior-level ICs in other functions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Looking at the other job situations, this level of contentment in their role was definitely not normal. Analyzing the free-response questions is a bit tricky, but here\u2019s a rough breakdown:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#ff9900\" style=\"color:rgb(255, 153, 0);\">% of each group that responded to open-ended Q6: \u2018Who at your company has the role you most envy?\u2019 with \u2018No one\u2019 or \u2018Nobody.\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"531\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:531,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:100287,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!mW4Y!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2414d422-39d3-4671-8301-203e692895cb_1486x542.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">I call this (unofficially) the ENVY INDEX.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>That\u2019s right: Over 70% of all managers and ICs considering management had a specific role they envied. A bit over half of player coaches had a role they envied. And again, this is up against the former-managers-now-IC group, where only 1 in 4 were envious of someone else\u2019s role! These people seem super content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The first big thing about this group is how many of them there are! 29% of all respondents fell into the \u2018I\u2019m currently doing both manager AND IC work\u2019 category, which I call the player coaches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The other thing that stood out to me is that this group was the most divided: On one hand, there are people who love the balance. But on the other hand, people who are forced into doing both are stretched thin and miserable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Player Coaches overwhelmingly indicated that they wanted to stay in the 50\/50 split between management and IC work:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\"><span>Q8: If compensation, title, and prestige were identical, which role would you choose? <\/span><br \/><\/span><\/strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">(Filtered by <\/span><span data-color=\"#f8a848\" style=\"color:rgb(248, 168, 72);\">\u2018I\u2019m currently working as a manager AND as an individual contributor.\u2019<\/span><\/em><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png\" width=\"663\" height=\"385\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:385,&quot;width&quot;:663,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!-gcp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2ffcd4bf-80e0-42b4-9423-9317a3f14329_663x385.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The majority of this group clearly wants to keep doing what they\u2019re doing. And a lot of the comments from these Player Coaches mentioned how happy they are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span>Head of Ops (California):<\/span><em><span> \u2018I find a lot of fulfillment in mentoring and helping grow and direct, unblock individuals. And then I also really need to solve problems and puzzles and figure things out and have novel work. I think just doing one of the tracts would be too boring, but by doing both, I get to contribute directly and help others succeed.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Director, Marketing (London): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I get a lot of fulfillment in just seeing people in the team thrive. And knowing that I have a small part to play in their success. But I also need that time without constant interruptions to actually shape the strategy myself.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Manager, Financial Services (Reading, UK): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I\u2019m in two roles. I\u2019m managing a team, plus I\u2019m also working as an individual contributor. Which in itself is a very big high for me. There is no one else\u2019s role I would like to take at this moment. I\u2019m happy.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Manager, Product (Vancouver): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I found a really nice niche role for myself because it is that blend of IC and management work in an area that is very exciting, but not under the executive super-pressure.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Head of Marketing (Scandinavia): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I chose a hybrid role to stay close to floor work and keep up with what is happening. Having managed 12 direct reports before and now just 1, my quality of life is much better.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Director, Community\/Product (Kansas City): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I actually think I have the best job in the company. I\u2019m not sure I would want somebody else\u2019s job right now. I think a lot of people actually might want mine.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>Unfortunately, this wasn\u2019t everyone. The biggest trend I saw is that people like this role\u2026 when they choose it. But a lot of the people who were forced into this role were miserable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One PM described his experience with this situation:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u2018It\u2019s a unique situation for the company. I used to manage people. With organizational changes, \u2026 the company doesn\u2019t have an opportunity to open two roles. Because of the budget, they pay me once. And it worked fine. So it\u2019s not really the same as say, Elena experienced, when she\u2019s moved back to the IC role. \u2026 In my case, it\u2019s because of the budget and because of the company\u2019s weird structure.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>He said it\u2019s been pretty brutal:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><span>\u2018I\u2019m working a lot, around, ten to twelve hours a day. Obviously, deprioritized some of the main functions of the day. So let\u2019s say, I deprioritized sports, the way I eat, sometimes the way I sleep. So I always have been a workaholic, so I never have stuck to work-life balance. However, if I\u2019m not trying to keep it in balance, like, it\u2019s sort hard \u2026 Just super hard to stay sane. And most importantly, not only working a lot, but also, the constant stress. So, literally, I do have a real pain in my neck because I\u2019m constantly having anxiety on the things that we should deliver.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>This showed up in a lot of the stories:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span>Director, Design (Miami): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I find myself constantly trying to reach a state of coherence, not just for my team, but also for myself. I\u2019m just mentally exhausted at the end of the day.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Director, Marketing (London): <\/span><em><span>\u2018What I\u2019m expected to deliver as a people leader and as a high-impact IC \u2014 that all works great. What has impacted my quality of life is the whiplash\u2026 coaching the team through reorgs while having less bandwidth.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Head of Ops (California): <\/span><em><span>\u2018It\u2019s hard to relay clarity, direction, and guidance when I don\u2019t have it myself.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Sr IC, Customer Success (Canada): <\/span><em><span>\u2018With my tier ones and twos always escalating to me, I don\u2019t get a lot of uninterrupted time to just focus and try to solve problems. When I don\u2019t get the things I enjoy doing at work, that makes me like my job a lot less.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Head of Product (Belfast): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I do leave some time to spend with my toddler, but it\u2019s back doing essential tasks late at night. Little time for gym, football, and other things I enjoy. [And it\u2019s also hard] seeing the team implement features end to end and grow an area, while I am stuck in management meetings.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>Sr IC, Customer Success (Canada): <\/span><em><span>\u2018I envy the people who have already left [the company]. Because they were able to translate the work that we do here into less stressful positions.\u2019<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>And one of the former-managers, a senior IC researcher from Canada, said it clearly, too: \u2018Trying to do both is next to impossible. Management doesn\u2019t scale proportionally.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For a lot of these people, it seems like becoming a player coach is the result of an org that doesn\u2019t have the discipline or clarity to give a particular lane. So they\u2019re forced to do two jobs (or more) and expected to maintain what feels like an impossible standard of being excellent at both.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When looking at the managers, I particularly wanted to dig into the group considering making this jump &#8211; managers who \u2018have considered returning to IC work.\u2018<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The most interesting stat to me: it seems 80%+ are stuck because of the money. Of the 51 managers who have considered going back to IC, 42 say they\u2019d actually do it if money and status were equal. And 26 of those said 100% IC, another 16 said mostly IC. Only 2 out of the 51 leaned toward staying in management! Zero chose 100% management.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This isn\u2019t that surprising, and the people in this situation seem to know what\u2019s up: They listed the #1 benefit of management as comp (21 of 51 responses). And their most frequent pick for the biggest downside of IC was lower earning potential (20 of 51 included this in their multi-select).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This group also reports worse quality of life: <\/span><strong><span>47% said their current role leads to worse quality of life<\/span><\/strong><span>, vs. 39% saying better quality of life. This is much worse than the average across the whole group, where only 20% say their current role leads to worse quality of life, vs. 65% saying better. That means that this group of managers are more than twice as unhappy in their current roles, vs. the rest of the respondents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For this group that\u2019s considering moving to IC work, there are a few key themes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><strong><span>Burnout and overwhelm<\/span><\/strong><span> &#8211; \u2018I was so frustrated and so overwhelmed,\u2019 \u2018burnt out,\u2019 \u2018putting in a lot of hours\u2026 it just drained me completely,\u2019 \u2018eating into family time,\u2019 managing 76 employees, working 10-hour days.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong><span>Loss of meaning<\/span><\/strong><span> &#8211; \u2018I didn\u2019t really feel a lot of fulfillment,\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t know what the impact is,\u2019 the work feeling \u2018stale,\u2019 and feeling that they\u2019ve drifted from the craft they loved.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong><span>People problems<\/span><\/strong><span> &#8211; difficult direct reports, having to cover for underperformers, a \u2018nasty episode with a colleague,\u2019 and having to fire people.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>Again: The group I described above are the ones who are looking at IC roles. The \u2018I\u2019m a manager and I want to stay a manager\u2019 were (as you\u2019d expect) a lot happier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The managers who want to stay managers had a much better quality of life: 75% said work had a positive impact  (vs. only 39% for the considering-IC group). And only 13% report that their role makes their life worse (vs. 47% for the other manager group). And their net score (+62pp) is actually similar to the former-managers-now-ICs (+59pp).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>So, it seems like the people who genuinely want to manage and the people who left management are equally content. But the people stuck in the middle are suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What separates the \u2018stay\u2019 managers from the \u2018considering IC\u2019 managers seems to be what they love, not what they hate.<\/span><strong><span> <\/span><\/strong><span>Both groups complain about the same things &#8211; too many meetings, accountability for things they can\u2019t control, less hands-on work. The downsides are almost exactly the same, in rank order. The difference is on the benefits side:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><span>The \u2018want to stay\u2019 group\u2019s #1 benefit is <\/span><strong><span>coaching and mentorship<\/span><\/strong><span> (28 selections, vs. 13 from the considering-IC group).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>The considering-IC group\u2019s #1 benefit is <\/span><strong><span>compensation<\/span><\/strong><span> (21 vs. 15 for the stay group).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>People who want to stay in management are happier in their roles and enjoy mentoring and coaching people (which was the top pick across all respondents), while the people looking for exits are unhappy and want to get out\u2026 but feel trapped. The thing keeping them there is the one remaining benefit &#8211; the money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Going back to that one big stat: Most people would do IC work\u2026 IF comp and influence were equal. But that\u2019s a big effing IF. That\u2019s kind of the whole point &#8211; the gap in how ICs are paid and treated within the org is actually the main barrier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Traditional IC roles are not going to make as much as company executives. That\u2019s not realistic. But what is realistic is a career path that leads to what I\u2019ve been calling High-impact IC (or HI-C) roles: <\/span><strong><span>A HI-C is an individual contributor who can complete a project that delivers business value, end-to-end, on their own.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>Setting up this path is going to take effort on all sides.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For me, this was the single biggest concern about returning to IC work. After being at the executive level, I know that having the right context makes all the difference. I don\u2019t necessarily need to be the one making decisions, but I absolutely cannot operate without knowing what\u2019s really going on. Without the right info, I knew I\u2019d inevitably get boxed into a corner, waste effort on unimportant stuff, and get pushed into less impactful work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unfortunately, most companies operate on some weird \u2018Need to know\u2019 basis, where even basic operational knowledge is kept hush-hush. If you want employees to deliver next-level impact\u2026 you gotta give them that next level of information.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span>(I wrote a whole different article about this, if you want to understand this part better: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/p\/your-ai-strategy-has-a-trust-problem\"><span>Your AI strategy has a trust problem, not a tooling problem<\/span><\/a><span>.)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span>I\u2019m excited for organizations to start opening up these doors, but if you\u2019re an employee looking for this kind of position, the ball is actually in your court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The main thing that a HI-C does is deliver impact. Solve problems. Identify opportunities and own them. I totally get that the wrong org structure and bureaucratic BS policies can feel like they\u2019re strangling you. But\u2026 they\u2019re strangling your bosses, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If you\u2019re waiting for someone to assign you this role, you\u2019re already taking the wrong approach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When you say you want autonomy (and so many people in this study did!), that also means you\u2019re asking for responsibility: That was actually one of the things I insisted on, when swapping back to IC &#8211; the ability to make the calls for my projects. Because that\u2019s one of the awesome\/terrifying parts of being a leader: It\u2019s up to you. A lot of Growth stuff is not kumbaya, everyone-agrees projects &#8211; there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty and confusion, but someone still needs to make a decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Maybe this is counterintuitive. Sure, lower earning power was a major concern in this study, but I actually think this is a lagging indicator. Traditional ICs don\u2019t get paid well, because their impact is limited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If an employee steps up to actually own a project that makes or saves the company a ton of money, it\u2019s way easier to justify a larger comp plan for her.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Think of it like professional sports: Every player gets paid more than the coach! Yes, the coaches still make millions per year to make sure that the team works together and all achieves their potential. But each individual on the team gets compensated based on their individual talent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Sure, there are different types of downsides that come with that, but if elite performers on the fields and courts around the world can get paid more than their managers, maybe us keyboard-jockeys can do the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Thanks to this study, we know that a large majority of people in tech would choose IC work if the pay was equal. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What would happen if we start paying ICs <\/span><em><span>more <\/span><\/em><span>than managers? That\u2019ll be the true test of when AI has completely changed the way we work. <\/span><\/p>\n<div data-callout=\"true\" class=\"callout-block\">\n<p><strong>Thanks to the Typeform team for making this possible! <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fun story: When they first reached out to me to do a paid sponsorship and set up a study, I didn\u2019t get it. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been a Typeform user for a long time, so I figured it was, I guess, some AI analysis on top of a large-scale survey? <\/p>\n<p><span>But as you could probably tell: This was a lot more like a major research panel, with people chatting about their experiences and perspective, out loud. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Except I could essentially run the whole thing on my own. The future of research is gonna be awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Want to try out <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/research-flow?utm_source=influencer&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=researchwave1&amp;utm_content=elena\">Research Flow<\/a><span>?<\/span><\/strong><span> <\/span><br \/><span>You can set up a call with the nice folks at Typeform, right here:<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-attrs=\"{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena%20Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Schedule a demo&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}\" data-component-name=\"ButtonCreateButton\" class=\"button-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tfsales.typeform.com\/to\/q03Il6X2?utm_source=Elena%20Verna&amp;source=Website&amp;source2=Influencer\" class=\"button primary button-wrapper\"><span>Schedule a demo<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em><span>Thanks to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jwbyagel\/\">Jonathan Yagel<\/a><span> for editing this post, and also helping to build and review the study!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Title:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> Mostly managers, but pretty evenly split.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Functions:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> A wide variety, but mostly Product, Ops, and Data<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Locations:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> Mostly from the US (60%) and UK\/Ireland (30%).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Age:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> Mostly 35-44 (49%) with most of the rest being evenly split between 25-34 and 45-54 (23% each)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Gender:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> More men (63%) than women (37%)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Education:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> Mostly Bachelor\u2019s degrees (49%), then Master\u2019s (25%)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Industry:<\/span><\/strong><\/em><span> About half (54%) directly in the tech\/software industry, with tech-focused workers in other industries making up the other half.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><em><strong><span>Org size: <\/span><\/strong><\/em><span>Evenly distributed across org sizes, but ~55% \u22641k employees, 45% \u22651k employees.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Title:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"566\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/bb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:566,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:86254,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!kjZP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbb5ee8ce-219f-4a05-948d-9b32297b24f5_1902x740.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Functions:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"560\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:560,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:113821,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!W1vr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f46bfde-3da2-4573-a25f-a2ff95227aaa_2086x802.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Location:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"560\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:560,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:85452,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!NvE9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9ea3b694-7549-4343-b5da-ccbbcafe04f8_1960x754.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Age:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png\" width=\"746\" height=\"352\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/ea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:352,&quot;width&quot;:746,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:18924,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!89wH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea22638a-2673-4f57-bf8f-9b05e192a60b_746x352.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Gender:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png\" width=\"657\" height=\"350\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/feecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:350,&quot;width&quot;:657,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:16742,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!fEaP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffeecb669-8a98-429c-b3cb-e73eb02b21ee_657x350.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Education:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png\" width=\"727\" height=\"381\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:381,&quot;width&quot;:727,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:25395,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!wQbj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07f6eaa5-f072-4897-b6ea-80ca34e2924b_727x381.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Industry:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"714\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/cfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:714,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:72694,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!nNha!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfd6f6b8-ef70-4740-824c-13f81e140f6d_1496x734.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span data-color=\"#f79c2f\" style=\"color:rgb(247, 156, 47);\">Org Size:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png\" data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOM\" class=\"image-link image2 is-viewable-img can-restack\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 1456w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png\" width=\"1456\" height=\"594\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:594,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:93645,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/i\/211019228?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!MEau!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11216496-ce85-40b8-98d4-eeca6b79b27c_1902x776.png 1456w\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"sizing-normal\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elenaverna.com\/p\/report-what-people-really-think-about?utm_source=tldrproduct\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Disclosure: This post is part of a paid partnership with Typeform, including the use of the Research Flow platform at no cost. All of the findings and analysis are my own.) IC work. So hot right now. I\u2019ve seen it myself, going back to an IC role at Lovable. And a few months ago, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":23347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scannn.com\/lv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}