I've been working at a large company for the last 7 years, recently quit to join another large company. I have always had projects "on the side," but those hav

I've been working at a large company for the last 7 years, recently quit to join another large company. I have always had projects "on the side," but those have (so far) never led anywhere, and I can only dream of joining a startup -- Why? Because the money in corporate work is good enough, the job is stable, and you are right that if someone takes you under their wing, you can go far. On the flipside, upper management is usually not a good place for (ex-)developers (which means less money). Maybe it's just my perception of things, but it seems like you already have to be a part of the upper management club to join the upper management club, if that makes sense. Another bad point is you have to deal with people that you will never be sure how they even got a job. This can be very frustrating at times because sometimes these people can hold a position of power, and you just have to learn to say "yes sir" in the face of an obviously-bad decision -- in fact, you may be experiencing this right now. Finally, you there can be a huge amount of bureaucracy that you have to deal with and this can be frustrating if you're the type that just wants to get stuff done. After joining corporate, you might not want to join a startup because your job is "cushy" and you don't want to take on that much risk. You will be "comfortable." And if you're ok with that, I say go for it, it's not so bad as everyone here thinks it is :)