It’s all the same shit. It’s just matter of your tolerance level for corporate b.s or startup b.s. The only thing about a vanilla big co is that it starts to lo

It’s all the same shit. It’s just matter of your tolerance level for corporate b.s or startup b.s. The only thing about a vanilla big co is that it starts to look really lame (even to yourself) on a resume if you are in the 3+ year range. You start to feel icky, sort of like ‘oh geez am I really one of these h1b Fortune 500 shills now?’. The same goes for being at a startup for too long, then it becomes ‘oh geez am I really one of these wide eyed douchebags now that believes I have ownership and autonomy or some shit?’. The most important thing I think a developer can do is remain compelling in the job market on your own two feet. While your mom may look at Microsoft and see it as some stable lottery ticket for life, in reality it can make you look less robust. That’s doubly so for a typical big co that doesn’t have the pedigree of Microsoft. My mom would probably say the same for my company, as in it’s well known - so what’s the problem? The problem is it looks lame past a certain point and she has no idea the nonsense involved in this job market. For every person that joins a startup thinking they will have ownership, autonomy, or whatever else you can concoct, there is also a counter party that is leaving at the same time saying there was no ownership, autonomy, etc. It’s all perception. As you leave Microsoft, someone else is entering wide eyed. It’s all just a giant game, so keep that track record fresh!