
Ask HN: Working at a startup vs. working at an established company? - askafriend
I just wanted to re-ignite this discussion now that we&#x27;re coming off of a high in the startup ecosystem. It&#x27;ll be interesting to see how people&#x27;s opinions have changed over the past couple of years.<p>Personally, I&#x27;ve seen the fervor cool down considerably and I see a lot of peers gravitating towards the more established companies. Even in the public tech markets a lot of the money is seemingly going to the FB&#x2F;Goog&#x2F;AMZNs of the world.
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chris_7
Working at a big company = more pay, better benefits, no "unlimited vacation"
nonsense, better hours, stock that isn't Monopoly money and that you don't
have to _pay for_ , and often a better environment (much less likely to have
"office music", distracting dogs, people making noise, "totally not mandatory"
alcohol events, etc.).

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zump
> much less likely to have "office music", distracting dogs, people making
> noise, "totally not mandatory" alcohol events, etc.

You fucking nailed it!

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godot
I've worked in both and have even been _in_ a company that went through from
startup stage to established company stage (IPO'd). I've been working in this
field professionally for about 12 years, and more as side projects as a
student before that.

Short answer, try both. People who think they prefer one over the other and
never having worked in both, owe it to themselves to try different
environments, over the years. You should be well aware that whatever choice
you're making now is not permanent. In any industry and particularly in
Silicon Valley, most people make a jump on average every few years (5 years or
so seems like a good length).

I just think that there is enough experience and knowledge to gain from both
types of environments that you shouldn't just think of one better than
another.

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taway_1212
Startups are trying to come from almost nothing to billions in a short time
span. Additionally, if they're in a market space that is not just some stupid
idea/fantasy, there will be an intense competition from other startups trying
to capture the same market (as software markets are largely winner-take-all).
This creates large incentives for founders to turn it into a death march for
the staff - and conversely, there's little incentive to keep staff happy with
their work-life balance (because if we do that, the company may not survive
next 24-36 months, and then who cares about happy staff).

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bsvalley
You can't compare startups vs established companies. Each organization has its
own culture. I know a lot of big companies where the culture is horrible, but
the perks are better. Where the mission is amazing but there is no
work/life/balance. A startup of a 100 employees could have an amazing culture
and a simple 9 to 5 schedule.

Plus, what you'd personally value in a company is not necessarily something
I'd value the most. The mission? The location? The brand? The perks? The
office? It's really case by case.

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apohn
Rather than lumping more established companies into one bucket, realize that
your experience at a large company is going to be determined by the team you
are in and the managers who dictate the fate of your group. If the goals of
your team and it's place in the company are aligned with what you want you
will be fine. Otherwise you'll be unsatisfied.

With a small startup it's probably easier to see what you are going to get
before you accept the offer. It may be easier to avoid jobs which are a bad
fit since small startups may be less obfuscated than large companies.

Also realize there are plenty of large non-tech companies that hire tech
people. These companies don't pay the salaries or provide the perks you see at
large tech companies. But they may offer solid 9-5 jobs in locations with
reasonable costs of living.

Bad management, politics, and bureaucracy will probably damage the motivation
of somebody who actually cares about their work and wants to do a good job. I
suspect you'll see more of this at large companies as opposed to startups, but
there are probably plenty of startups (I worked at one) that have this issues.
Many people don't seem to care about these things so this stuff matters less
to them - they do their jobs and go home.

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simplyinfinity
I've worked at 3-4 startups ranging from 4 to 20 people for about 4 years and
at a big co for about 3 years now.

Cons of big co:

At my current company (600+ people) it takes ages to get anything done.

Days full of boring meetings where you repeat the same info to the same
people.

Company claiming to be agile yet micromanaging and not really being agile.

0 autonomy.

Design by committee.

Mostly boring repetitive work (if you can get anything done from all those
meetings.)

Corporate "culture".

Very few leaders, 90% middle-managers.

Pros:

Stable job. Extra healthcare + more benefits equaling to about 1/6th of your
pay.

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notduncansmith
Protip: don't assume any of these things will go away when working at a
startup. Most of these are just characteristic of bad management, which can be
found in companies of all sizes and ages. Also, the younger the company, the
less likely the necessary management expertise has accumulated, unless it's a
company started by people who are already excellent managers in addition to
whatever other high level of expertise that let them become managers. P.S.
These are exceedingly rare.

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popopodpofg
I have an alternative:

Work at an established old economy company, build a network and start off on
your own as a single founder.

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hitsurume
I think if you're starting out in your tech career, the experience of working
at a startup is more beneficial career wise then working at a big company.
After a couple of years of startup experience, then you can re-evaluate and
decide which type of company would best fit.

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kasey_junk
I feel exactly the opposite. A few years at established companies will prepare
you for determining if your startup is doing something idiotic or not.

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carise
As mentioned here, it depends what your motivations and career aspirations
are. Working at startups (worked at one mature startup, then consulted for a
bunch of small ones) gave me experience dealing with customers directly and
delivering high impact in a short timeframe. Working in a big company is
teaching me to think really big (reach big customers, scalability/performance,
high ROI, etc) and giving me the opportunity to learn from many, many
brilliant people.

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atsaloli
I've done both. Now I'm working on my own company. Not a "startup" (high
growth) but just my own company that I'm growing with the sweat of my brow.
That's a possible road as well!

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cm2012
Established tech companies are the best.

