There are two kinds of software engineers. 1. The cautious engineer who joined a big corporation immediately after finishing university and who might change co

There are two kinds of software engineers. 1. The cautious engineer who joined a big corporation immediately after finishing university and who might change companies maybe once or twice in their whole careers. They never take risks, never get fired, achieve steady career progress, steady bonus every year, steady pay raises, steady promotions every couple of years, can spend hours learning algorithms, never having to spend any time to strategize their next negotiation or career move... 2. The risk-taking engineer who joined a startup straight after/before/during university and who went through companies like toilet paper for the first 10 years. Always directly exposed to market forces, ready to jump ship at any time; always keeping one eye on the lifeboat. Always looking for a big opportunity, willing to network hard, change countries, get exposure; do everything they can to stay independent of anyone else and completely self-reliant. After finishing university, I started with path #2 but was exhausted after the first startup I joined failed so decided to try #1; unfortunately my past experience had made the corporate environment way too depressing for me. I just couldn't relate to the other employees there so I had to go back to path #2. It was difficult and painful but I got to build up my character and my confidence.