Ask HN: Pros and cons of working at a startup in 2018?

See, I'm the opposite. I couldn't care less about the importance of my work. I work for one reason and one reason only: to fund my life. I just want to put in my eight hours a day, draw a paycheck, and then go home and have fun.

And I honestly like the idea of being anonymous. I just want to blend into the background and not be noticed, and I couldn't care less about climbing the ladder because my career is the least important thing in my life.

> Most of my friends that work at larger public tech companies — it just feels like they're constantly doing unimportant things, going to conferences just for the sake of it, getting into work late and leaving early.

Honestly, that sounds like paradise to me. I'm pretty satisfied with my current job, but if I wasn't I'd definitely be asking you for the names of some of those companies.

Telling me that 0.001-0.004 of current equity pool (maybe-worth-something) > 150k cash now isn't usually convincing, especially if you have a lot of college debt and no safety net out of college.

This is just equity+base comp. I don't know how to price / factor in food, caltrain pass, healthcare, 401k matching, life insurance, discounts, performance bonuses, refreshers, and the fact that my job provides growth / would give me level match if I switched to a similar company (for example L5 SWE @ Google -> L5 SWE @ Facebook, vs VP of Eng at some startup -> L3 at Facebook...).

If you're good enough to get into Google/Facebook on a good team, it's scarcely worth it to join a startup as an early employee if you optimize at all for expected value.

That said plenty of FAANG employees feel limited career growth in the roles/teams they end up on, which is the main case a startup would look appealing. But also internal team transfers aren't that hard and you get to keep your nice comp.

One more datapoint: I have a friend who would totally work in startups despite high comp at a great company -- his blocker is US citizenship / worries for his family if the company goes under.

Informal atmosphere, flat hierarchies, open mindedness are some terms that perfectly describe work environment at a Startup. So, if you are bored of your organization’s formal work environment, then Startups have a better place to work at for you.

Real ownership & Results:

By working at a Startup, you can have a freedom to work. If you have an idea, execute it, and come up with the results. There is no need to follow a hierarchy and take multiple approvals. In case, your idea is a big hit, just enjoy the equity.

Experience:

Startup gives you ample of opportunities to take decisions and that too quickly. This would not just help you in learning but also help in gaining experience in case you have plans to initiate your own startup.

Sense of Accomplishment: Working at a startup gives tremendous & quantifiable impact. Startups give you a position to be an integral part of the system that plays an important part in the fine working of the business. The sense of accomplishment one gets from this is something that money can’t buy.

Diverse Work Day :

Work day at startup is not like 9-5 corporate job. You do not have to go to office to do the defined tasks & come back home. Instead every day, in fact every minute can be unpredictable about work. There are different clients and different work, and you would have to manage all simultaneously. So, one another best aspect about working at a start-up is, you won’t be bored!

The bad side:

Lack of structure: Due to inexperience of leadership, if management loses sight of team/cost/communication of strategy with investment, then one has to face the consequences and bear the burden.

Perk-less salaries: Yes, startups have fund raising issues. So, do not expect big salary package in the beginning. There is even no scope of any sort of perks or monetary benefits in the initial years of the Startup.

Lack of work life balance: Startup also means a lot of work, which demands extended work hours. You might enjoy flexibility in work style, however it would surely demand more time from you. So, be prepared to give extended working hours to your job and compromise with work life balance at initial stage of startup.

Job insecurity: Your career is directly proportional to the growth of the company. If its future at stake, so is your career. Chances of instability are thus high with startup companies.

Now that you know the good and bad side of working at startups, take decisions wisely and then work hard to enjoy success.