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

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101–110 of 224 posts

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

#101

Take Google and see if u can do advisory work for the startup on side for equity. I am bias as worked at Google but left for startup world and would never go back. The Google name can open pretty much any doors

This would be a violation of Google’s anti-moonlighting clause, so only take this advice if you’re willing to lose your job at Google over it.

Which is unenforceable because it is a violation of the California labor code section 96 k. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio....

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

#102

Advice from someone who had a similar choice and went the startup route: choose the Google option. It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs, but you can invest the money now and create a nice start for yourself. There will never be any shortage of interesting startups to work for in the future.

I couldn’t agree more—I would add live below your means because you don’t want to get used to that lifestyle/level of income where it would be impossible to step back later if you wanted.

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

#103
Google.

My brother left a good job for a promising start up last year. Without getting into detail he wound up quitting a few weeks before they closed up shop. It started out great but quickly fizzled out due to the lack lack of a cohesive goal. It's a high risk that he took and lost. Now he's looking for work again. He regrets the decision.

YMMV but Google is a guarantee and a great resume stuffer.

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

#104

Advice from someone who had a similar choice and went the startup route: choose the Google option. It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs, but you can invest the money now and create a nice start for yourself. There will never be any shortage of interesting startups to work for in the future.

I couldn’t agree more—I would add live below your means because you don’t want to get used to that lifestyle/level of income where it would be impossible to step back later if you wanted.

> I would add live below your means

This is good advice in general

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

#105
Going to work somewhere because of the overall expected benefits after many years it will have to you financially, how it will look on your resume, or the "reputation" it will give you are all absolutely terrible reasons to do so, if for no other reason that these aspects are horribly difficult to predict and generally speaking are predicated upon tomorrow being like today, which in tech is often the opposite of the truth. Not only that, but these aren't the things that are likely to get you up in the morning. Going to a job you hate because it will look good on your resume after a few years sounds like a special kind of hell.

Will you be able to work on problems interesting to you or you think are important, with people you like and enjoy working with? Nobody can answer the question for you but Google and a startup are going to offer wildly different answers to that question. That's the aspect I would focus on. Everyone in this thread who is telling you they can predict the net effect on your finances or your reputation or future career options after a few years give themselves too much credit.

And hell, in my own experience going through a failed startup has actually had an equally positive impact on my life as another I co-founded which was more successful. Don't let people fool you into thinking that walking away from a failed startup where you learned and grew as a person is somehow a worse outcome than spending your years in a job that is more "secure" but with a narrower breadth of skill development or ownership over your work.

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

#106

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,…

Did you have to return any signing bonuses, relocation, etc in full?

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

#107
post #69
post #58

1. 6% of zero is zero. 2. 4 years is a lot of time to spend at a company for a high probability of making 6% of zero. 3. If you're an employee at a startup, you're in the wrong job. You're much better off being a founder. 4. Equity is a way to be paid less and to be fired in the first year if you haven't vested anything. 5. Who are you going to sell your equity shares to? It's not necessarily a free market in the sta…

"...You're much better off being a founder." Or VC investor with preferred shares that will guarantee you get paid first N-times your original investment (before unaware engineers will see a penny).

That’s generally not a choice available to people early in their career in tech. Being a founder is a choice available to them...

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

#108
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…

>if the startup is successful you_might_ make $10m

if the startup is the next facebook, sure. But usually an employee doesn't make 10 million, even for 100 million dollar(+) acquisitions. Founders do, but that is a different game.

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

#109
post #58

1. 6% of zero is zero. 2. 4 years is a lot of time to spend at a company for a high probability of making 6% of zero. 3. If you're an employee at a startup, you're in the wrong job. You're much better off being a founder. 4. Equity is a way to be paid less and to be fired in the first year if you haven't vested anything. 5. Who are you going to sell your equity shares to? It's not necessarily a free market in the sta…

This.
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