Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
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Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#2I don't think you can go into a company as large as Google and expect your salary to double in five years. HR will have set limits to how much of a raise you can get in any given year and even with promotions you would be very unlikely to see that kind of bump. I also don't think the middling programmers he mentions would hit the 250k year mark.
Orthogonal to the point of the article, but the only time you can really get a salary bump is before you start, so make sure to negotiate like hell before you get in. Once you're in, you're going to be grinding to get a 3% raise (contrary to what the OP states).
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#3[deleted]
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#4> A new grad at Google/FB/Amazon with a lowball offer will have a total comp (salary + bonus + equity) of $130k/yr.
I think these companies are actually too ideal to draw this conclusion from. For everyone Google/Amazon/FB, you also have a Comcast, an Oracle, an HP or Cisco.
You frequently hear about companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, etc trading employees. You don't hear about the typical big company poaching anyone besides executives.
Edit: The above doesn't seem to represent a clear thought. I'm trying to argue that the average big company doesn't pay as well as those three. Similarly, the average startup isn't going to be able to pay massive dividends in four years.
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#5I didn't do more than browse the article because I didn't need to hear the arguments to accept the conclusion. I think the only place perhaps in the world where working in a startup could be seen as any way superior to working at an established business is in Silicon Valley, where enormous amounts of VC money come together to create a modern Rome.
Certainly we need Rome, the modern world wouldn't have existed without it, but Romans themselves are myopic and self-obsessed. They need to be, otherwise it wouldn't be Rome.
I love that Silicon Valley exists, but I wouldn't want to live there. I love the people that go there and exist on the bleeding edge of innovation. I'll happily sit here behind the curve and have a normal life with a house and car and kids. I'll root for the dreamers that go there and hope that they too can one day achieve their dream life. I don't need that glory.
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#6[deleted]
Google / FB / Amazon are being used as examples of large companies, not as examples of startups.
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#7I'd recommend anyone looking for their first job out of university to consider strongly a job at a startup. Consider it a 'finishing school', where you'll have the highest chance to touch as many different technologies and tasks as possible (from system administration, to backend to frontend work), as opposed to the 'Big Company' where (especially for a first job) you'll be focused on one task.
The important thing is to leave after one year, no matter the compensation you are getting. Teams have a tendency to give the shittiest work to the most junior member, and there's very little inertia to replace that person if they are doing a stellar job at that shit work, but once you leave that startup with bankable experience under your belt, you'll have a much easier time interviewing and negotiating yourself a cushier position at either another startup or a big company.
Most big companies have a much better career 'ladder', where you'll be on a path to more interesting work once you've proven your worth, but I suspect you'd still be in a better position coming into the company one or two years in, rather than starting the treadmill at a lower salary/title.
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#8I'd recommend anyone looking for their first job out of university to consider strongly a job at a startup. Consider it a 'finishing school', where you'll have the highest chance to touch as many different technologies and tasks as possible (from system administration, to backend to frontend work), as opposed to the 'Big Company' where (especially for a first job) you'll be focused on one task. The important thing is…
I'd recommend anyone looking for their first job out of university to consider strongly a job at a supercorp. Starting a start up will be much easier with a network of professionals, a pile of personal savings, and it is way easier to go from supercorp to startup than vice versa.
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#9I'd recommend anyone looking for their first job out of university to consider strongly a job at a startup. Consider it a 'finishing school', where you'll have the highest chance to touch as many different technologies and tasks as possible (from system administration, to backend to frontend work), as opposed to the 'Big Company' where (especially for a first job) you'll be focused on one task. The important thing is…
I agree, but a year's a bit tight. You may want to give yourself an option of another 6-12 months, if your job is still rotating through things and changing enough that you're not pigeonholed yet. I'm not sure I could put into words why, but I'd look much more favorably on two years rather than one if I was looking at your future resume.
Flip side, I'd also add an option at months three and six to ask myself whether I should just get out now and basically just not put it on my resume in the future. Interesting tech is interesting, but if the startup has pathological personnel or psychological problems, a year may be too long. I would suggest sticking out anything other than outright abuse for at least 3 months, though, since you do want to account for the fact that, ahem, a real job is not school and there are certain different expectations, regardless of where you work.
Re: Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
#10I'd recommend anyone looking for their first job out of university to consider strongly a job at a startup. Consider it a 'finishing school', where you'll have the highest chance to touch as many different technologies and tasks as possible (from system administration, to backend to frontend work), as opposed to the 'Big Company' where (especially for a first job) you'll be focused on one task. The important thing is…
Alternative view: large corps often have graduate programs that will cycle you through various parts of the business (Cap Gem's is particularly good, IMO), and make a great platform for figuring out what you want to do next.