1. How much independence did the OP show creating the Amazon hookup? Was it his/her baby? Did they push forgot to happen? Or were they just rotated onto the project and it came with the next item off the backlog?
2. Was the OP the only one to add value that year? Was the value they added more than others or about the same.
Without these two it's hard to see if they should realise they are just an employee and have no leverage or if they did get shafted.
I think we all need to have more P&L responsibility in our jobs - software is about creative capital and should be highly leveraged.
Maybe we should all go back to the partnership model?
Right. Timeline and comtex is missing as well. Also, in general terms, I think it is a bad idea to go to management or a company owner amd battle for a out-of-band raise. This is particularly true if one lacks context or visibility into the other layers that make-up the organization. It can make someone look clueless, selfish and not a team player. Nobody wants needy problem employees.
To me context is very important. Most of the frustrating moments I've had with employees has been with sales people. They come at things from a very different perspective when compared to engimeers. Most business owners I know have the same "chills-down-my-back" reaction when asked about sales staff.
Anyhow, I had a sales guy demand commission for closing sales at the office. The problem is I was spending tens of thousands of dollars per month in marketing and hundreds of thousands per trade show to make that phone ring. The job of a sales person is to go turn over stones and find business. What he was doing was taking orders. You don't pay someone a salary and commission (in a small company) to sit idle while fish jump into the boat. You pay them to fish. Anyhow, that guy was gone too.
The best sales person I had was this 20-something girl who did not know the first thing about selling. I hired her to help at a tradeshow. I noticed she was great with customers and bery comfortable with technical material. I hired her as a sales person and trained her over several weeks. She easily made twice the salary of the best sales person I had up to that point. Changed her life and gained an absolute gem of a team member.
Perhaps the real point here is that that's what you want to become: so good that you cannot be ignored. Business owners or management love to throw money lavishly at things and people who produce results. Not one time "got lucky" results but consistent dedication to the cause.
"push for it to happen" -> "push forgot to happen". It's like being whipped with a Markov chain.
My personal feeling is that anyone drawn to sales has a belief that they can magically make the world / other people / their mother do what they want simply by using the right words / form of persuasion. Its a belief in magic instead of science and it should not be a valuable skill in the 21C. Calling it a Reality Distortion Field is not improving the situation.
OP here. The Amazon hookup was one of the big projects but was a huge undertaking with high visibility and I was left to deliver it on my own.
It was an intense time with me cutting holidays short and very long days. I wasn't expecting a "cut" of the profits but it was very much about being recognised for the hard work I put in and that it was a good piece of work.
I felt I had gone above and beyond for 3-4months. I wasn't bitter. I just realised that after the derisory pay-rise, that it was time to leave.
I still miss that place. It was full of good people (some are close friends) and I did some really cool stuff that made a massive difference to the operation of the company. Would I go back? Yes as a consultant/contractor but not as a permie. I know my worth.
After that I joined an immensely challenging start-up which unfortunately failed and am now consulting and looking to bootstrap an idea in the summer ;)
I hope it is obvious that it is impossible for someone to grasp the entire dynamic of your experience based on a few short posts. This requires a long conversation where one would explore and try to understand the entire context. I can't fault your or praise you in any way, not enough data.
In general, though, I'd say business owners (and good managers) are hungry for good employees who "get it". And, if they are smart, they'll recognize these employees.
But you also don't want one-hit-wonders. What you are after are people dedicated to the long term mission. Anyone can bust ass for a few months, get a raise and then proceed to rest on their laurels.
Recognition for good people often comes in the way of raises and promotions over time. You might invest a few years at a company doing good work and contributing value yet not necessarily see much in the way of praise and adoration. And then, one day, you get a promotion. Because people are watching and paying attention. That's the way it works in some places.
I once worked at job where a bug fix or 'feature' could directly result in sales landing a $1M+ deal. I was fortunate in that it was a growing company and my boss recognized what I was doing and promoted me accordingly. Subsequently when growth leveled off, there was no more recognition other than paltry annual bonus/raises. We lost some good people due to that situation.
1. How much independence did the OP show creating the Amazon hookup? Was it his/her baby? Did they push forgot to happen? Or were they just rotated onto the project and it came with the next item off the backlog?
2. Was the OP the only one to add value that year? Was the value they added more than others or about the same.
Without these two it's hard to see if they should realise they are just an employee and have no leverage or if they did get shafted.
I think we all need to have more P&L responsibility in our jobs - software is about creative capital and should be highly leveraged.
Maybe we should all go back to the partnership model?