First-Principles Culture

First principles are the foundational, irreducible truths of a system that cannot be deduced any further. SNPS is a software company that depends on selling software for profits. So the first principles of the company are those who write codes and those who sell the software. Anything else should serve these two principles: reduce distraction, provide a comfortable working environment, and give them good compensation.

However, at SNPS, these 2 groups are the ones who are mostly ignored and suppressed. When management flips the organizational hierarchy, bureaucracy cannibalizes the engineers who build the product and the sales professionals who generate revenue. Every supporting department—from middle management to HR—should exist solely to optimize this pipeline, not obstruct it. Losing sight of this foundational truth triggers immediate organizational decay. This is the root cause of extreme low productivity compared with our competitors.

This structural inversion creates dangerous consequences for the company's market position. High-performing talent does not stay where it is marginalized. When top-tier developers and elite sales executives face hostility, they leave for competitors who respect first principles. The company is then left with a culture of compliance rather than innovation, where survival depends on pleasing managers rather than creating superior products or winning market share.

To see this reality clearly, it is worthwhile to pause and count the people around you. Ask yourself: how many actually write code? How many engage in real sales? And how many do nothing but to make their managers happy? When the talkers outnumber and outrank the doers, a company has abandoned its first principles.

At SNPS, It's not uncommon that an IC sits in the 8th or 9th layer in the reporting structure. We, the front line engineers, don't need so many nannies and care givers.

#Engineering #Organization #Culture #Sales

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@jg When middle management becomes corrupted, it leads to situations like the recent layoffs, where some employees who should have stayed were let go, while others who should have been let go were kept. The new HR lady boss is a disaster to the company.

@ft When an engineering company loses its engineering culture, it loses the engine that drives real growth. That’s what’s happening at Synopsys. A thick isolation layer now separates top decision‑makers from the engineers who actually understand the products, and information only moves upward after being filtered to protect the people in the middle.

The core issue is a middle‑management layer focused almost entirely on upward management. Instead of enabling engineers, they manage optics, guard their positions, and control narratives. Engineers have no meaningful way to challenge poor decisions, and leadership rarely hears unfiltered technical truth.

This dynamic steadily erodes the company’s engineering culture. Innovation slows, technical debt grows, and product quality declines. From the outside the company may still look strong, but internally it has lost the momentum that once powered its growth.

When engineers are muted and middle managers control the flow of information, the company stops functioning as an engineering‑driven organization. And once that shift happens, long‑term growth becomes impossible.

Engineers should rule in a engineering company.
Simple as that.
As soon as bean counters or lawyers run a tech company it goes down the drain.
History is full of examples.
Tech is difficult for a reason: you have to know what you are taking aboutt.
And SNPS is full of people who don't, at levels -8,-7 and up.

"Thanks bro. I will seriously consider this."

-- Sassine

Good post. While a bit out of balance regarding the breakout I think you're way more accurate than not. Once you're way past the Startup phase the Staff functions will become much more important. Operating a ship requires a very different organization than rowing a boat.

Thread regarding Synopsys Inc. layoffs

First-Principles Culture

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