I couldn't agree more with your breakdown! These three categories perfectly capture the landscape of most tech roles today. Your point about the early-stage co

I couldn't agree more with your breakdown! These three categories perfectly capture the landscape of most tech roles today. Your point about the early-stage company experience particularly resonates with me. Like you, I don't have a prestigious university background, and what you said about finding true peers/mentors really hits home. I think most of us in tech struggle to find mentors who can provide genuine strategic guidance rather than just technical advice. I'm also drawn to startups and the prospect of working with brilliant teammates. The energy and growth potential in such environments is unmatched. But finding these 'small but mighty' companies feels like searching for needles in a haystack - they're rare gems where everything aligns: smart people, exciting work, and good culture. Just curious - when searching for these early-stage roles, did you have any specific strategies for identifying truly promising opportunities? And the trickier question... how did you assess whether you'd be working with genuinely smart people versus just well-practiced interviewers?