You could work at a large soul destroying company Yes, you could. You could also work at a medium-sized soul destroying company with a totally dysfunctional cu

You could work at a large soul destroying company Yes, you could. You could also work at a medium-sized soul destroying company with a totally dysfunctional culture. Or you could work for a 5 person start up with a founder who was only able to function if he had multiple grams of cocaine in his system. Or an up-and-coming, making the transition from startup company who used to have a dysfunctional culture but who fired the perpetrators and who is focused on strategic hiring during a period of heavy growth. Or you could work for a US-based branch of a global company where things were pretty good except for that one co-worker who'd been there 15 years who threatened violence every day and suicide at least once a week and who worked at a snail's pace, yet who was still there the day you got fired because the new boss was younger and saw your college degree as a threat to his position. Or you could work at a 3000+ software company on a product that was used by almost the entirety of the Fortune 2000 and have the direct ear of the CIO even though you're 4 levels below him (as a result of the company culture, not because you're special) and have direct influence on the company direction because of it. Point being, "startup" != happiness or quality of life, no more than "established company" = stability or a big paycheck. Again and again, it all boils down to company culture, and that's entirely independent of company size, and often it will vary greatly from group to group within the same company.