No, what they are saying is that people present a false dilemma where your options to work are either at a FAANG or at a startup. Most people work at non-FAANG

No, what they are saying is that people present a false dilemma where your options to work are either at a FAANG or at a startup. Most people work at non-FAANG companies. If you're going to do a write-up on relative merits of working at a startup vs a larger company things are going to lean heavily in favor of the FAANG because the overall risk to compensation is much more favorable. But if you compare a startup to a more standard tech company then each side will have more pros and cons.