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> At least one very important benefit of joining a big, reputable company is that the technical skill level will be good I don't believe this is a universal tr

> At least one very important benefit of joining a big, reputable company is that the technical skill level will be good I don't believe this is a universal truth, especially since your experience at a large company is largely dictated by the specific team you work on. I've definitely worked for small startups that were far more talented than some of the technical teams I've worked on at big companies.

vkou 8y ago
The friction for finding a new job in a big company is often lower then quitting your startup. If you're not growing the way you want to, transfer internally. You don't lose your unvested equity, you don't have to spend 6 months re-onboarding (3 would be sufficient), you can have a much better idea of what the working environment in your new team is going to be, then going across the street to a competitor.
birken 8y ago
Well nothing is a universal truth, but I think my point is generally accurate. IMO a bad team at a good company is way way better than a "good" team at a bad startup where nobody knows what they are doing. At the very least the company will have lots of resources outside of your team to learn from (company-wide infrastructure and processes, tech talks, etc). I also am not saying all startups are bad, and in fact I know that many startups are full of very talented people who are certainly more talented than the average person at a big company. And it is possible, and maybe even likely, that a good team at a good startup is better learning environment than a good team at a big company. But I think the median team at a big company has a pretty good technical level, and the median team at a small startup (for example one that is just graduating from YC) is fairly bad. If you are young engineer who doesn't know any better, you are much much safer taking a job at a big company if learning about good engineering is your chief priority.
- xiphias2 8y ago
  I agree with you with most things, but bad team is bad team everywhere, and it can ruin your life and career. It's important to recognize it and switch teams inside the company after 1-2 years if it's needed.
AmazingAtalanta 8y ago
Maybe a different way to think about it is not that the skill level of the team is low (because people aren't talented), but that at start-ups, you tend to have smaller teams or a lot more work is distributed across a fewer number of people. So if you are a young engineer, you might not have access to a good mentor at a small start-up. More onus will be on you to develop skills and learn things by researching and ingesting material outside. At larger companies, they can attract skilled talent with bigger salaries and they will most likely employ more people on teams. While you might not necessarily work directly with someone who can mentor you, there is more likely to be someone in adjacent teams or in other departments who you could reach out to and learn from.
- lovecg 8y ago
  > So if you are a young engineer, you might not have access to a good mentor at a small start-up. More onus will be on you to develop skills and learn things by researching and ingesting material outside. Necessity is the mother of invention. For the right kind of person, the quickest way to learn might just be because something that needs to be done yesterday requires a specific skill or a piece of knowledge. There’s nothing quite as motivating as “the business is on fire and you can personally fix it, but you need to learn how right now”.
jorblumesea 8y ago
I agree, but anecdotally I believe there is a correlation between salaries and talent level. Larger companies have the budget to buy talent, startups need to entice them with equity and interesting work. But overall, I've noticed it's hard for startups to compete with the money the FANGs throw around.

vkou 8y ago

The friction for finding a new job in a big company is often lower then quitting your startup. If you're not growing the way you want to, transfer internally. You don't lose your unvested equity, you don't have to spend 6 months re-onboarding (3 would be sufficient), you can have a much better idea of what the working environment in your new team is going to be, then going across the street to a competitor.

birken 8y ago

Well nothing is a universal truth, but I think my point is generally accurate. IMO a bad team at a good company is way way better than a "good" team at a bad startup where nobody knows what they are doing. At the very least the company will have lots of resources outside of your team to learn from (company-wide infrastructure and processes, tech talks, etc). I also am not saying all startups are bad, and in fact I know that many startups are full of very talented people who are certainly more talented than the average person at a big company. And it is possible, and maybe even likely, that a good team at a good startup is better learning environment than a good team at a big company. But I think the median team at a big company has a pretty good technical level, and the median team at a small startup (for example one that is just graduating from YC) is fairly bad. If you are young engineer who doesn't know any better, you are much much safer taking a job at a big company if learning about good engineering is your chief priority.

xiphias2 8y ago
I agree with you with most things, but bad team is bad team everywhere, and it can ruin your life and career. It's important to recognize it and switch teams inside the company after 1-2 years if it's needed.

AmazingAtalanta 8y ago

Maybe a different way to think about it is not that the skill level of the team is low (because people aren't talented), but that at start-ups, you tend to have smaller teams or a lot more work is distributed across a fewer number of people. So if you are a young engineer, you might not have access to a good mentor at a small start-up. More onus will be on you to develop skills and learn things by researching and ingesting material outside. At larger companies, they can attract skilled talent with bigger salaries and they will most likely employ more people on teams. While you might not necessarily work directly with someone who can mentor you, there is more likely to be someone in adjacent teams or in other departments who you could reach out to and learn from.

lovecg 8y ago
> So if you are a young engineer, you might not have access to a good mentor at a small start-up. More onus will be on you to develop skills and learn things by researching and ingesting material outside. Necessity is the mother of invention. For the right kind of person, the quickest way to learn might just be because something that needs to be done yesterday requires a specific skill or a piece of knowledge. There’s nothing quite as motivating as “the business is on fire and you can personally fix it, but you need to learn how right now”.

jorblumesea 8y ago

I agree, but anecdotally I believe there is a correlation between salaries and talent level. Larger companies have the budget to buy talent, startups need to entice them with equity and interesting work. But overall, I've noticed it's hard for startups to compete with the money the FANGs throw around.