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Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#41

Post by joeblau »

This is a really tough decision and there are lots of things to weigh.

1. The equity sounds all good and well, but you need to know the intentions of the founder — would they every consider selling or doing an IPO. If not, your shares will have zero value.

2. What space is the startup in? Do they have a technology where they are both building a moat and growing at a rate where they will be around in 5-10 years?

3. Can you live on 1/3 of what Google is offering you?

If you believe your startup is the next Dropbox, Airbnb, Uber, SpaceX or Pinterest I would say join that. The thing about these mega-companies (Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon) is that they aren't going anywhere and if you made it through the interview already, I'm sure you can do it again. These mega-companies are filled with brilliant people so you will definitely learn a lot about running projects at scale. They are also filled with bureaucracy (unless you're on a skunk works team with no budget) which sucks if you're the type of person that likes to move quickly.

In my opinion, a great startup beats any mega-company any day of the week.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#42

Post by teddyh »

Do you only want to compare the money? Or are you also considering the ethical implications? Statistically, I would guess that working for the startup might have a higher chance to be the more ethical option, but since you don’t say what the startup actually does, I can’t know. Also, the one to decide the ethics should be you, not me.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#43

Post by mdhughes »

Do you want safe, reliable money at the cost of your conscience? Do you want to be one tiny cog in the machine that tracks and annihilates humanity? Choose Google.

Do you want adventure, high risk of failure, and being able to live with yourself, even if it means struggling sometimes? Choose the startup.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#44

Post by joejerryronnie »

So here are your choices:

1) Work for Google

2) Work for startup for 1/3 the compensation, at least 50% more working hours, and options that have a 95% chance of being worth zero dollars at some point in the future.

It seems like the obvious choice would be Google but it also depends on what life stage you're at. If young and just starting out, there's no easier time to take a risk. If you've got a family to support, maybe the sure bet is a better way to go. Plus, if you're gonna take a risk later in life, you should take that risk on yourself not on someone else (i.e. start your own company).

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#45

Post by huffmsa »

Google will take you in the future, the startup won't.

You're (presumably) young. Take risks, you have little downside.

You'll work yourself into the ground at the startup, but you'll learn more in a year than you will being code monkey #20005 at Google.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#46

Post by kcorbitt »

I was faced with a similar choice two years ago and went with Google. I really didn't enjoy my time there; turns out big companies really aren't my cup of tea. I also learned much less than I would have somewhere else because Google's stack is quite proprietary and I simply wasn't motivated in that environment. I quit after only 8 months.

So it may surprise you that I'd recommend taking the Google offer! In my mind, there's no way to lose choosing Google. If it turns out that you love Google, awesome – you can have a great and well-compensated career there. And if it turns out you don't enjoy that kind of shop (like me), your career possibilities will be far wider after a tour of duty at Google than they are right now, including within startups. Google as a resume item will continue paying dividends for as long as it maintains its reputation for engineering excellence.

This advice is based on my personal experience – it's almost certain that I wouldn't be in my current role if I hadn't had Google on my resume when I applied. And my current responsibilities, experience and income far exceed what I could have expected on the alternative trajectory at an early-stage startup, unless its growth happened to have exploded while I was there.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#47

Post by newusertoday »

answer would depend on your current background and what this startup does. From your wording it seems you are weighing it in terms of money. In that case it is hands down google as it is already paying more, is considerably less risky and will give you brand recognition for future employment. I think you should weigh your options in terms of you future goals rather than money. I would rephrase the question as Which step will help me realize my goals faster and go with it.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#48

Post by lockee »

Speaking from experience, this is a very hard choice. I've been there too. I've drunk the Kool-Aid and decided that startups are the place for young ambitious people to be. 5 years later, working for a second startup now I regret the choice I've made.

Difference in my case was that the startup actually paid well too. In the long run though it was not worth it.

The first startup I was working failed within a year even though from the outside it looked like it was going for the stars. The second one, kind of stagnated.. reached a ramen profitability but is far from hockey-stick growth everyone would like to see. I'm looking to change jobs now but noone cares if you're doing the best job in a company noone ever heard of. In the meantime my friends working for Big Corps make careers, and while they are being given responsibilities much slower their personal growth seems more.. robust. Well known names really open you many doors.

If you manage to find a successful startup, that will become a unicorn, great for you, this is probably one of the best things that can happen to a person. But it's bloody hard to know beforehand. For me going forward it's either my own startup or working for a well-known name that people will recognize.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#49

Post by dagss »

huffmsa wrote: post #45

Google will take you in the future, the startup won't. You're (presumably) young. Take risks, you have little downside. You'll work yourself into the ground at the startup, but you'll learn more in a year than you will being code monkey #20005 at Google.

The startup won't?? Another startup will...

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#50

Post by m_ke »

pbiggar wrote: post #25

Disclaimer: I'm a founder of an early stage startup, so I'm biased. You need to figure out what your goals are. We can't answer for you because we don't know what you want. If your goal is just money (which is fine, don't be afraid to say this), then definitely go to google. In 10 years you'll be earning 500k per year, and have put away a ton of cash too. Financially, if the startup is successful you_might_ make $10m…

I was a 1st employee at a fairly successful startup and am now an "early stage founder". The experience from one doesn't carry over as much to the other as you'd expect.

1) Somewhat true, it's definitely the case initially but you'll see politics develop if the company gets above 15-20 employees.

2) You'll half ass everything. It's nice to get exposure if you don't know what you're interested in yet but it will be hard to go deep in any subject. If you're doing ML the startup will probably have no data, process and infrastructure for you to be effective. At Google they have all the data you can dream of, 1000s of people to label things if you need them, unlimited hardware and tooling to run and manage experiments.

3) You'll learn a lot more about functional organizations at Google than as an early engineer at a startup. You'll also come out with a network and resume that will make raising money and hiring a lot easier.

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