I worked for a "startup within a Big Co." for a few months, set up as an "innovation lab" for a big stuffy 3-letter HR tech / payroll vendor everyone knows (at

I worked for a "startup within a Big Co." for a few months, set up as an "innovation lab" for a big stuffy 3-letter HR tech / payroll vendor everyone knows (at least in the US). It wasn't bad, and I felt like they really tried to make things feel all fun and "silicon alley" (I'm in NYC), but boy did that whole facade disappear once you realized you need to use on corporate VPN to view things on the public internet and a second one to connect to source control. Or when the companies patent lawyer comes by to talk to the team about the importance of patenting every last little idea you have. I don't even blame them either, they are a huge company that can't just change the way they fundamentally do business. But it does make the whole thing feel a bit artificial. I'm sure for startups that are acquired it's a bit different but in the end the same result.