I've been working for a startup for almost 6 months now, but before this, I've only worked at relatively larger companies, my last company being the largest (7k

I've been working for a startup for almost 6 months now, but before this, I've only worked at relatively larger companies, my last company being the largest (7k employees). I like the independence of working at a startup and the speed at which things get done. This is also a curse though, because it often feels like engineers are competing for who can own or take over a project first. Things are done quickly but also haphazardly; for example, I recently jumped on a project where the lead engineer whipped up the repository within a day and already added a Makefile that had a couple of completely broken commands due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the build process. With larger companies, I liked that I can largely remain invisible if I want to. So long as I finish my JIRA tickets, I usually "sign off" early and leave my messenger on if I'm needed for any urgent matters. Usually the leaders aren't expecting me to go "above and beyond" like my current job often feels like. I fulfill my creative programming pursuits on my freetime, and I prefer it that way. Also, I do prefer designated PTO time as opposed to "unlimited PTO" like many startups now offer. So right now I'm in favor of larger companies, but take this with a grain of salt because I've only been in the startup world for 6 months.