Apparently, Facebook is the new "it girl" in Silicon Valley - all the cool kids want to work there. This exit email from a recent ex-Google guy sums up the mind-set:

Which company? That one. That company that shows up once in a very long while -- the Google of yesterday, the Microsoft of long ago. That company where large numbers of stunningly-brilliant people congregate and feed off each other's genius. That company that's doing with 60 engineers what teams of 600 can't pull off. That company that's on the cusp of Changing The World, that's still small enough where each employee has a huge impact on the organization, where you think about working now and again, and where you know you'll kick yourself in three years if you don't jump on the bandwagon now, even after someone had told you that it was rolling toward the promised land. That company where everyone seems to be having the time of their life.

I've always thought that getting big is the most dangerous thing for a company - large numbers of employees generate large numbers of middle managers, who generate lots of meetings. Ultimately, you end up with people like this and this on staff, and productivity just grinds to a complete halt.

Microsoft hit that wall some time ago, and it sounds like Google might be browsing the neighborhood. If Facebook is hiring as fast as TechCrunch says they are, how long will it be before they hit the inertia wall?

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