There is a sweet spot regarding the timeline of early stage startups and when to join. If they are too small, yes, a lot of the cons you mention are valid, exce

There is a sweet spot regarding the timeline of early stage startups and when to join. If they are too small, yes, a lot of the cons you mention are valid, except for maybe the first one - I'd say earlier stage startups who are at the point of bringing on engineers are actually looking for more input and outside validation than larger sized businesses. For me, joining a 20-50 person startup is the ideal sweet spot. Compensation is often comparable to larger companies, of course it's about finding the startups who actually respect and fairly compensate their employees (just like working w/ clients). I've been in a situation before where I was interviewing with two companies at the same time, similar positions with similar stage startups (very very early, less than 3 people) - we got to numbers and one of them offered me $50k while the other offered $180k. The funny part is that the one that paid more, I am willing to bet, ended up being significantly less work than the other one. Point is, it's not black and white. It's about finding the opportunity that is right for you. Also I think a big benefit is influence in company culture. At every smaller startup I've been at, there has been a direct communication channel with the CxO regarding anything one would like to discuss, often including new perks or events that management was considering hosting. The feedback loop is smaller and more direct.