
Ask HN: Join a “unicorn” startup or a well established giant? - wavelander
Hey there !<p>I have offers from a &quot;unicorn&quot; status startup and a well established giant (~ $6B - $8B in revenue). I&#x27;m 22 and have recently graduated and plan to do my masters in Computer Science sometime in the next year or two.<p>Considering such a short time horizon, and ignoring facts such as pay, city involved or closeness to home, which could be advised as better time spent working and learning ? What factors do I consider while making my decision ? Do I not ignore factors mentioned previously ?<p>Lastly, if I do end up joining the startup, I&#x27;m also worried that I&#x27;ll end up staying at the place for too long, and not doing my Masters as planned.<p>Any advice and outcomes&#x2F;experiences involved in both paths would be welcome.<p>Thanks !
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randomname2
Wealthfront CEO Andy Rachleff on this:

"Ignore Company Size

Great engineering mentors reside at companies of all sizes. Coding best
practices are broadly similar between both large and small companies, provided
both are on the leading edge. That should come as no surprise because
engineers need to solve many of the same root problems, no matter what the
size of the company.

Failure at a small company with a great engineering team is not as risky as
you might think. Even if your employer fails, recruiters are quite
knowledgeable about which companies have recruited great technical leaders and
are desperate to hire their disciples. Perhaps even more surprising is
engineers from failed companies with great technical reputations are far more
vigorously pursued than engineers from successful companies that lack killer
technical reputations.

Once again, the most important consideration is the quality of people from
whom you can learn."

[http://eng.wealthfront.com/2014/02/career-planning-for-
new-g...](http://eng.wealthfront.com/2014/02/career-planning-for-new-grad-and-
young.html)

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CyberFonic
I'd throw my support behind Andy Rachleff's comment. With the added
observations ...

You would be best served to interview your prospective employers. Try to
ascertain where you would learn the most and have the most fun.

If you are serious about pursuing your masters, sooner rather than later, then
you should bring that topic up in the interviews as well. You might find one
of the companies more willing to support your on-going education. Doing a
masters part-time might be a viable option.

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davismwfl
If you go the startup route, you will likely not do your Masters anytime soon.
Not saying you couldn't but I've just seen it a number of times, and you'll
likely get caught up doing the startup dance (its fun). Honestly, that isn't a
bad thing. In a lot of ways going through the startup process is a better
education. Not discounting an advanced education but frankly I'd rather get
practical experience over a Masters.

The large company you can easily complete your Masters as the amount of work
and the type of work you will be doing will be the entry level work. Not that
it is bad, just that it is different than a startup where you could be tasked
with a critical feature or bug fix that the company really is depending on.
Another factor to consider, if you do really want your Masters now, the bigCo
might wind up paying for a lot of it, if you agree to stick around for 1-2
years after they pay for it. Sometimes that is worth taking less fulfilling
work so you can fulfill your education, just a thought.

For my 2 cents, I'd go the startup route. But if you are a risk adverse
person, don't.

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TheDom
Pick the unicorn.

* Your stock options should be worth a lot more down the road. * It's fun and a better learning experience to be part of a growing company. * The unicorn's name will also look good on your CV. So don't pick the giant for that reason.

Imagine joining Google or Facebook when they were small and considered a
unicorn!

Of course there's the unlikely scenario that the unicorn will fail but even
then the overall experience will teach you a lot more.

~~~
Rainymood
>The unlikely scenario that the unicorn will fail

Why is this the 'unlikely' scenario, and not the likely scenario?

I am really curious on what unicorn OP is talking about.

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wimagguc
Choosing between two good options with unpredictable outcomes, my favourite
rule of thumb is: choose the one that leaves you with the more options
afterwards.

1\. With the startup you’ll learn a lot in a short period of time. You’ll meet
entrepreneurs and others who can help down the startup road.

2\. The giant will look great in your CV and will lead to better positions,
better salaries (and you’ll still learn a lot if you want).

It all comes down to your preferences really.

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haack
Was in your exact position a few weeks ago. Useful advice that I had was, pick
the company that loves the same stuff as you.

If you love tech and want to learn and try new stuff, make sure the company
feels the same way. If you're crazy about shipping cool stuff, does the
company share that? This is irrespective of the size of the company.

Failing that, I'd go for the risky option.

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i0nutzb
I have two friends in your position, who both picked the big giant (a
multinational company). They both are in their early 20's. They both are
fixing bugs. They both have regrets.

Not saying that fixing bugs is a bad thing, but in six months they hardly did
anything else but this.

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lingua_franca
take more risk while u r young and single: a unicorn is gonna be materially
different experience than the giant. u can join a large corp at anytime.

a Master's degree is nearly useless in industry, unless ur resume needs help
from a prestigious name-brand school. ppl usually pay more attention to where
you get ur Bachelor's, or Ph.D. degrees from. a Master's only takes 1.5 or
even 1 year to finish, too short for anybody to change/improve a lot.

