

Ask HN :Join a Startup vs Amazon in India?  - free

I am a lurker here since a couple of years and I am in need of some advice. I have 5 years of exp in Java dev at a couple of big companies. I need to select between the following two options<p>1. Smallish startup in Bangalore that is doing reasonably well. They have &#60;50 ppl on the the tech side. They are offering around 15 lakhs with a 20% variable pay included in it.
2. Software Development Engineer in Test at Amazon, Chennai. I would be working on test frameworks and automating test cases. The pay is almost 20 lakhs I've experessed my concern of wanting to work on dev and not QA. The HR has told me that I can move into a SDE role after a year and relocate to any amazon office after 18 months.<p>I personally want to take up the first option since I'd get out of Chennai and working for a startup will be more fulfilling.
I don't really enjoy testing and would be stuck in Chennai, but working at Amazon would improve my profile and could get me a chance to get to SV in a couple of years.<p>My dream like many of us here is to start a startup.<p>I know that it is ultimately me that has to make a call based on my priorities but I am finding it very difficult and some perspective could help.
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keeptrying
Even after you move to SV you'll still be on a H1B and so cant really start
your own company till you get a GC. that will take you 5 years if everything
goes well. (There are ways to start a company on a H1 but none in a way that
allow you to have optimal control of the company.)

I'm from India and I just recently quit to start on my own. I'm 33 - I got my
GC 1 year ago.

My sincere advice: Stay in India.

India is going to hit the point where everyone starts doing things on the
internet. Its very nearly there. But when it explodes, there will be tons of
of money to be made. You will be sitting on huge numbers of people just
learning to use the internet for their daily lives.

And I would definitely advise you to join the startup. You will learn nothing
but tech from Amazon. I would even take a paycut if you can ask for some non-
tech responsibility in the startup, ie on the business side. You need to
understand how the deals are made - even more so because your dealing in
India.

Stay in India and learn how to start your own business - catch the upcoming
internet wave. You are positioned perfectly to ride this out and make
millions. I'm serious about this.

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free
Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.

My instinct wants to me to join the startup but I am a little hesitant to miss
out on having Amazon on my resume and the opportunity to get to SV, since it
has been echoed many times here that SV is the best place to be if you want to
start on your own.

But your post has given me, if I can say so, courage to just go with the first
option.

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keeptrying
Being an entrepreneur is about 2 things.

1\. Learning the skills you need to do step 2.

2\. Creating something that people want and figuring out a way to help them
pay for it.

Its well documented in books like "The Talent Code" that the most effective
way to learn is to be an environment where everyone else is doing the same
thing and being sucessful at it. So yes SV would be the best way to start a VC
backed startup.

But there is actually something thats more important than the above 2 - a HUGE
SURGING MARKET. People in SV are not near Indian middle class and arent
focussed on it even though: "The middle class in India and China is bigger
than the middle class is US + Europe + Brazil + Africa combined". Give this
and the fact that you CAN learn on your own I think you should stya in India
and try there.

Use social media to watch videos from SV and learn. But stay in a huge growing
market with much less startup competition. Even if you suck at execution but
listen to the market your bound to become rich.

Now if you didnt have to do 1.5 + 5 years of slaving away for a corporate
master before you could start your own company in SV then I would recommend SV
but you dont have that option (unless you qualify for founder visa when that
bill gets enacted).

All said and done, go out tomorrow buy Rs 2000 of vegetables from a vendor and
try to resell it at market where you live. You'll learn sales and negotiation
and you'll get the feeling of getting paid with cash - it'll be a great first
step :)

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rrpadhy
If you are planning to startup in future, would suggest you to join the
startup. The payment is any ways good, and when you factor the taxes and all,
your take home will hardly be any different.

Plus, working on a startup will enable you to learn a whole lot more, you may
get to meet the investors and talk and build a rapport.

Working in Big Companies will not give you the skills required to startup.
They train you to adhere to processes. :)

Amazon might be different than other Indian companies, then again the bosses
and the managers will be coming from Indian companies. ;)

How long do you want to wait before you want to startup? 18 months in India,
and then depending on availablity and assuming the HR is telling the truth, 1
more year in SV? Still you might not get to learn much about startups during
that period.

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SingAlong
_I personally want to take up the first option since I'd get out of Chennai
and working for a startup will be more fulfilling. I don't really enjoy
testing and would be stuck in Chennai_

From the sound of it, it seems you know what to do :)

15L at an Indian startup is really good. That also says that they are either
funded or profitable. And since you aren't the first employee, you don't have
that brand-new-startup risk.

I know people around me with the same amount of experience as you and get paid
a lot lesser but they say they are satisfied and "can live with it". If I were
you I would just choose the startup.

I'm a regular at Bangalore tech events (mostly attend hackathons) and the guys
there are pretty close knit and good.

P.S: I'm from Bangalore and work remotely for a YC-funded startup.

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teja1990
I'd say go for a startup, you are still young , you can take risks while you
can. If you get married or with increase in responsibilities , you will not be
able to take huge risks with your career. Amazon is offering you a job now ,
looking by that you will get a job at Amazon even after 2yrs , may be you can
get dev there after 2 yrs :) . And working in startup , the exposure you get
is way more than any where else cuz in big cos you will stuck to your work ,
but at startups you'll get your hands dirty and will not be confined to your
work , whatever comes up u r forced to take . So I'd say go for startup :)

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kayhi
The two paths that I am seeing: join start up -> do your own start up join
amazon -> do your own start up

If possible come up with what the start up will be about and perhaps get some
traction. This is will eliminate your CV completely ;)

I respect having a back up plan, but for some having a really good one keeps
them from fully committing to their start up idea.

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senthilnayagam
You are not the first developer in the startup, they able to offer you a
decent package means, so they are funded.

Both are jobs

if you think you can be a entrepreneur then choose the startup you can know
complete process and how to get funded for your idea.

If you think you may not startup in next 2 years, take the well paying job and
save for future

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stfu
Not sure how the startup atmosphere in India is but the ability to "relocate
to any amazon office after 18 months" sounds like a really really great
opportunity for personal growth.

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byoung2
In my experience, HR reps will tell you anything to get you to take a job they
are having trouble filling. They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain
by telling you what you want to hear. 18 months from now, that HR rep won't be
there, and no one will remember promising you the chance to move to another
office or better position. In the end, you'll quit and they'll make that same
promise to another sucker. Don't take the QA job now if that's not what you
want.

~~~
free
I've been told that relocation after 18 months is a company wide policy and is
dependent on the openings in other offices at the time. I know some people
through my friends who have done that. But I've been wrong earlier as well

