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Most of it is good advice for fresh graduates who want to get into big companies. Shouldn't we be telling these young people to aim higher?. If you derive your

Most of it is good advice for fresh graduates who want to get into big companies. Shouldn't we be telling these young people to aim higher?. If you derive your sense of worth from a bigger brand and not your own efforts and caliber, you might be complacent for a while then life happens and you will regret not accomplishing anything meaningful in life. Before preparing for your interview and seeking validation for your self worth from big companies, try out internships at startups and get exposed to disruptive ideas. Do not play by somebody's rules. That leads to stagnation. A small plant does not get enough sunlight when it is shadowed by a giant tree. The sunlight you need is exposure to problems you can solve. Google and Amazon are the new IBM and AOL. They were once the disruptors, now ready to be disrupted by newer generations. Every other day we read about how internet is broken and finance is broken, try starting there. If you decide to get a job at big company, its not all that bad, just do not take it so seriously.

mahyarm 9y ago
Startups aren't that special, and I lost a lot of income by doing small startups first as an employee for 4/5 years. Startups even in successful cases are just break even working at AFGAM. Usually you'll quickly be throwing away $100k/yr in income instead. And that $60k/yr your not putting in your stock brokerage account you could of used for whatever bootstrapped digital business or financial independence base you could of done instead. Over 8 years the difference can mean a literal million dollars in the bank. Working at AFGAM won't make you lose your soul, and you'll learn a lot of stuff that you wouldn't learn in a startup. If you work at both types, you'll quickly realize that working at a SV startup and working at Twitter or FB is not that much different. A lot of startups have fun, but writing bad disposable code is the standard operating procedure. Mentorship is usually non-existent. Wanting to write something quality is usually difficult to get approved because you might die tomorrow. Long hours are very typical. I would also suggesting looking at this article: https://deardesignstudent.com/8-reasons-to-turn-down-that-startup-job-1f82a00ade34 https://deardesignstudent.com/8-reasons-to-turn-down-that-st... , #4 is especially relevant.
- yanilkr 9y ago
  Ships are safe at harbor but thats not what they are made for. I guess the world needs people who want to work for big companies and people who want to startup. The grass is always greener on the other side, so its not the worst advice to get exposed to wide range of problems and people who are solving them in the industry.
  - TulliusCicero 9y ago
    There's room for both. In the bay area, it's not uncommon for people to kind of cycle through, sometimes being at big companies, then they go off to be adventuresome at a startup, then either it gets acquired by a big company or it dies (and they go back to the stability of a big company) or it's successful enough to where it's not a startup anymore.

mahyarm 9y ago

Startups aren't that special, and I lost a lot of income by doing small startups first as an employee for 4/5 years. Startups even in successful cases are just break even working at AFGAM. Usually you'll quickly be throwing away $100k/yr in income instead. And that $60k/yr your not putting in your stock brokerage account you could of used for whatever bootstrapped digital business or financial independence base you could of done instead. Over 8 years the difference can mean a literal million dollars in the bank. Working at AFGAM won't make you lose your soul, and you'll learn a lot of stuff that you wouldn't learn in a startup. If you work at both types, you'll quickly realize that working at a SV startup and working at Twitter or FB is not that much different. A lot of startups have fun, but writing bad disposable code is the standard operating procedure. Mentorship is usually non-existent. Wanting to write something quality is usually difficult to get approved because you might die tomorrow. Long hours are very typical. I would also suggesting looking at this article: https://deardesignstudent.com/8-reasons-to-turn-down-that-startup-job-1f82a00ade34 https://deardesignstudent.com/8-reasons-to-turn-down-that-st... , #4 is especially relevant.

yanilkr 9y ago
Ships are safe at harbor but thats not what they are made for. I guess the world needs people who want to work for big companies and people who want to startup. The grass is always greener on the other side, so its not the worst advice to get exposed to wide range of problems and people who are solving them in the industry.
- TulliusCicero 9y ago
  There's room for both. In the bay area, it's not uncommon for people to kind of cycle through, sometimes being at big companies, then they go off to be adventuresome at a startup, then either it gets acquired by a big company or it dies (and they go back to the stability of a big company) or it's successful enough to where it's not a startup anymore.