Saying that a VC-funded startup can provide the same experience as Bell Labs or Xerox Parc is a tremendous false equivalency. Some exceptions might resemble tho

Saying that a VC-funded startup can provide the same experience as Bell Labs or Xerox Parc is a tremendous false equivalency. Some exceptions might resemble those R&D behemoths. Most will not because VC - with its attendant growth expectations - is antithetical to “tinkering” (a great word another commenter here used). And good luck picking the exceptions as a potential employee when every such startup has a reality distortion field. I can assure you you’re more likely to end up somewhere run by an Elizabeth Holmes type, who can sell you a compelling narrative that will ultimately flatline. Employees have no window into the reality of a startup from the outside. Very often they don’t get to see that much more on the inside either.