The founder of the startup I'm at now, imgix, had this to say about it: http://blog.chriszacharias.com/cruise-ships http://blog.chriszacharias.com/cruise-ships

The founder of the startup I'm at now, imgix, had this to say about it: http://blog.chriszacharias.com/cruise-ships http://blog.chriszacharias.com/cruise-ships Google is a cruise ship. You're young and agile in a way that you'll likely never be again. As a result, you're more risk-tolerant as well. Risk accordingly. Despite that, don't confuse commitment and risk. The bay is a big place. It's expensive to live in, and full of unlikely opportunities in equally unlikely places. Find a month to month lease if you can, or crash with somebody you know. Don't lock yourself down with a long lease, the environment moves too fast and your priorities will evolve even faster once you hit the ground here. I think you'll appreciate the agility. It's a mistake I made, and would probably change given a do-over. Another miscellaneous thought: there are so many startups and things like this going on in the bay that it's actually a bit of a blur, and while it's easy to meet many people doing what you describe, they're all very much wrapped up in their own version of the story. A job at google actually gives you proximity to bigger names, for longer, and with more purpose. From a networking standpoint, that has value. I don't think it negates the sole-suckingness of a giant org for someone with your personality, but it's at least worth noting.