Speaking from experience, this is a very hard choice. I've been there too. I've drunk the Kool-Aid and decided that startups are the place for young ambitious p

Speaking from experience, this is a very hard choice. I've been there too. I've drunk the Kool-Aid and decided that startups are the place for young ambitious people to be. 5 years later, working for a second startup now I regret the choice I've made. Difference in my case was that the startup actually paid well too. In the long run though it was not worth it. The first startup I was working failed within a year even though from the outside it looked like it was going for the stars. The second one, kind of stagnated.. reached a ramen profitability but is far from hockey-stick growth everyone would like to see. I'm looking to change jobs now but noone cares if you're doing the best job in a company noone ever heard of. In the meantime my friends working for Big Corps make careers, and while they are being given responsibilities much slower their personal growth seems more.. robust. Well known names really open you many doors. If you manage to find a successful startup, that will become a unicorn, great for you, this is probably one of the best things that can happen to a person. But it's bloody hard to know beforehand. For me going forward it's either my own startup or working for a well-known name that people will recognize.