Ask HN: Does working for big tech companies pay off more compared to startups?

Based on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9052727 (What up with these startup salaries?) I tried to do a rough calculation of whether it makes more economic sense to work for a large tech. company (apple, google, etc...) or startups. Modulo other factors, it seems that working for a large tech. company pays more on average. Here are the calculations: https://gist.github.com/MichaelGLarson/d916a6984271ea136e3f

Am I missing something here?

I mean it just depends, I am making more at my current startup job by about 11% than my big corporate IT job I left.

But my startup is also through a few rounds of funding. I also feel like the experience gained here will translate into higher salary later should I transition back into larger organizations.

This is something not too straightforward to compare, and will be different for different individuals/situations.

In terms of money you can't even make an argument. Working for a big company will usually be better for you fiscally speaking. Even the average exit or IPO won't usually make up for the investment opportunity cost. There will always be a lucky few who have life-changing exits, but this is the minority.

HOWEVER, money is not the main reason that most people in startups are there. Try surviving your 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th year in a big company, while still caring about what you do. Big companies will always struggle with internal politics, because they are the brand-name place to work, so they are going to attract political types who want to struggle for a piece of the pie.

If you work for a startup you will likely have a level of freedom, responsibility, and chances to do interesting things that only a select few people (who are both talented, lucky, and adept at politics) at larger companies get to do.

Big companies are a great place to start a career, because they are super invested in making the best engineers and retaining them. Especially at Google, so many resources are given to junior developers and the code that you get to work on will be world-class. However, after a few years of working at a big company you will probably be overqualified for whatever you are doing and it will be very easy to get bored unless you are very clever at maneuvering into the right positions at the right time.

Go get baptized at a big company, make some cash, pay off those student loans, go join a startup and have fun.

Edit:

OR, you know, you could come join the light-side right away ;)

If you just change job you will typically earn more in the next job. You should factor this in to any change.

I've worked in start ups and large companies. I quickly realized that I could make more money consulting/contracting for large companies, than working for either. This is at the sacrifice of not doing the most interesting work. If money wasn't an issue I'd love to do a start up again.

I have been a Software Engineer in the field for around 18 years and have worked at numerous companies.. I've been employee #1, and have also worked at a company with around 100K employees across the globe.

I haven't yet been a founder, but I've been at 3 startups which have been acquired. At this stage in my career, if compensation is your primary concern, my opinion and experience is that your best bet is a bigger company who offers stock as part of your compensation somehow. I've definitely made more at a bigger companies than I have as an employee of successful startups with liquidation events.

However, when I was younger, startups were a great place to get interesting experience and network with some great people. I'd recommend working at them if you are in your twenties, or founding one if you have the right personality and backup plans for that. I'm in my mid 30's and would be relatively hesitant to be an employee of startup in its early days now.

You also need to consider if it's a true startup, or just a smaller mom and pop lifestyle type company which is not growing like crazy. The latter is probably better for someone like me, but a quality startup in your 20's is something you'll look back on fondly no matter how much it may have sucked at the time. It's a roller coaster ride but you'll get great experience and have a great network of people to know when you get older.

Keep in mind I'm speaking as an employee-- a founder of a startup is a totally different thing.