

Why Computer Science Undergrads Should Work for Start-Ups - antiform
http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/startup.htm

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gamble
Working _for_ a startup is a sucker's game. Even assuming it succeeds, with
the amount of equity a typical employee holds and the size of an average
buyout, the best-case scenario is that you'll emerge with a pittance after
years of very long workdays. More likely you'll end up with nothing, and
little professional respect for having spent years at a company few people
have ever heard of. The odds are really only in your favor if you're a
founder, not an employee.

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comatose_kid
The experience you gain at a startup can be pretty worthwhile, payout or no.

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strlen
That's misleading. There are web-startups that aren't tech centered and there
are medium and big companies that solve hard technical problems that startups
don't (or can't) encounter. Obviously there are also tech-centered start-ups
and "business" centered big-cos.

A better dichotomy isn't start-up/big-co: it is is whether you're looking to
do fairly simple, business-oriented programming or CS-focused programming. Or
whether you'd prefer to work in an environment that's demanding in terms of
output but flexible in terms of work-style _or_ one that's strict 9-5 (no
overtime, but no flexibility either).

The stereotype is that big-companies are "9-5, business centered" and start-
ups are "demanding but flexible, tech centered". Yet there are other
combinations available ("9-5, tech centered" -- think Intel -- "flexible,
business centered" etc...) -- in both start-ups and big companies.

Better advice is to work on something you're passionate about in an
environment that gives you the chance to gain skills/experience you won't
otherwise: once you find such a place, it shouldn't matter whether it's a
start-up or not. You'll always have time to make gobs of money later (whether
from options at a start-up or bonuses/salary/stock at a big-co).

Essentially: don't work at a start-up for the sake of working at a start-up.
Starting your own is a different option -- and isn't the same as joining an
existing one; joining a start-up will give you exposure to the "whole
picture", but it may also not give you a chance to learn technologies you
could put to use at your own start-up.

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colins_pride
This is basically an anthology of three Paul Graham essays. If you're here,
you've probably read the essays, and if you've read the essays ...

