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Startup vs. Corporate Life

blog.lawnstarter.com

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Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#51

Post by pop45 »

taway wrote: post #48
happywolf wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true at all. You can always look for projects that interest you and start to contribute: browse github and knock yourself out. For entry level jobs, as long as you can show adequate knowledge in a certain technology, I don't think any employer will care if you get it in a full-time job, or from your personal projects. In fact, I do think a candidate who does personal projects is more attractive because of the ini…

Long time lurker, first time poster. While I understand what you are saying, I also understand the fears of the parent. From what I know, in some parts of Europe like Greece, Spain, Portugal there is not much software development going on outside of COTS and I know some people in these countries that get caught on a cycle of jumping from consulting company to consulting company but essentially doing the same kind of…

Yes, I'm in one of the countries you mentioned. I also see that pattern among older friends which graduated and are now working for 3-5 years. About 30-40% of the people I knew either exited the country immediately after graduating or 2-3 years after. Some even moved via mobility programs like Erasmus and never came back. The rest remain in the cycle you mentioned and that is my fear.

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#52

Post by dk8996 »

pixelmonkey wrote: post #21

I spent 3 years at one of the name-brand Wall Street firms before starting my own company. This essay rang true to me. It's now 5 years into my "startup" (Aside: can I still call it that? We have 25 employees and millions in revenue.) I have no regrets. My goal is for our employees to have the kind of environment we always wished the large companies we used to work for would have. In fact, many of my early employees…

I command you for building such a culture at your company. This is not a easy task, even at startup.

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#53

Post by kenster07 »

seldo wrote: post #17

> People claim that startups work you hard, I personally don’t see it. From people I’ve talked to, I’d say 50 hour weeks are average. That’s about what you see in corporate America these days. I think only in America would somebody say 50 hour weeks don't count as working you hard. Also, the average US working week is 35 hours, 37 in "information" industries: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t18.htm The fact is…

The fact is that past X hours most people just aren't very productive

I agree with the sentiment, but people need to remember that the number 'X' is different for different people.

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#54

Post by king_jester »

kenster07 wrote: post #53
seldo wrote: post #17

> People claim that startups work you hard, I personally don’t see it. From people I’ve talked to, I’d say 50 hour weeks are average. That’s about what you see in corporate America these days. I think only in America would somebody say 50 hour weeks don't count as working you hard. Also, the average US working week is 35 hours, 37 in "information" industries: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t18.htm The fact is…

The fact is that past X hours most people just aren't very productive I agree with the sentiment, but people need to remember that the number 'X' is different for different people.

And that X can be different for the same person from week to week.

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#56

Post by bquinlan »

I graduated in 1997 and, since then, have worked at:

- 2 big companies

- 2 small steady-state businesses (- 4 startups (one as a founder)

So far my best experience has been at Google, where I work now. Here are some of my reasons:

- I have a lot of opportunities to learn because there are so many people with diverse skills and expertise and Google has the resources and motivation to let people investigate novel technologies.

- I work with amazing technology. Google has the resources to devote many engineers to internal development tools and production technologies.

- I don't have to work with (many) crazy people. At startups and small businesses, I found that one crazy founder or manager (who is probably related to the CEO) can completely ruin the experience. Google has processes to avoid hiring such people or to deal with them post-hire.

- The work I do effects a lot of people. My Mom has commented on features that I've implemented. And, since we usually work in small teams, my impact isn't usually diluted by a lot of people.

- There is a lot of project diversity and ability to relocate (if you want). So far I've worked on Google's support systems (Dublin), search (Dublin), App Engine (Sydney) and Chromecast (Mountain View).

- I get paid well without a lot of risk. At Google my base salary is pretty high and I can treat my bonus and equity awards as extras that I don't need to count on. And the bank can count on Google too so I can get a reasonable mortgage.

Not everything is perfect, of course. Two months ago a bunch of work I did was thrown away because my manager's manager's manager's manager didn't like it (his reasoning was sound but...) [1]. And bigger companies are under increased scrutiny so you have to be more careful about privacy, regulatory compliance, etc. A lot of things that you would just do at a startup require consultation with lawyers at a big company.

And my other big company experience really really sucked. I won't go into the details here but I ended up quitting in about 3 months.

[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/Chromecast/comments/22n3uv/squirrels...

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#57

Post by count »

rquantz wrote: post #36
timthorn wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> giant corporations will make you WANT to leave because they're terrible to work for Some might be. Some are great fun to work at.

I'd love a list of big corporations that are actually great to work for. It seems like Google is in this camp (I know, not for everyone, but it seems like most people have positive experiences there), maybe Facebook. I hear mixed things about Microsoft. What are the top ten BigCorps to work at as a developer?

This is pretty easy. All of them, if you're on the right team, working on the right project. Broad generalizations are pretty useless for something so intensely personal.

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#58

Post by bicx »

pop45 wrote: post #50
bicx wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be an unpopular opinion on HN, but I would urge you to seek meaning in your life in something more fundamental than your career. Once you find your identity in something more important (God, family, relationships... don't hate, HN ;) ), it's actually easier to make an objective decision about what to do for a living. It makes it easier to take intermediate steps (unfulfilling in the short-term) between what's…

Thanks a lot for your comment. It hit home. I don't have many friends or relationships, my family is really small (no siblings or cousins) and I'm far from home, and my life is centered around finishing my deggree and programming/learning new technologies. I feel I don't have anything else, so if I fail at it, I have failed in life. Thanks for sharing your experience. It gives me some hope which is invaluable as I ha…

Glad I could help you out a bit. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always email me at brian@spire.me.

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#59

Post by dk8996 »

mattgreenrocks wrote: post #30
pmoods wrote: post #2

I really like the final line "Finally what do you really care about: name brand or doing cool work?" Very true and something I feel so many people fail to realize.

Doing cool work? Many startups want fresh grads to be taping together CRUD apps! MegaCorps will often ask the same of you, but have more paths toward getting deeper into both the product and the stack.

I am always surprised by this point of view.

1) There is nothing wrong with taping together CRUD apps if it achieves a goal or makes a big impact for your startup

2) There is a good amount of grads that can't even tap CRUD apps together, let have CS degrees

3) At MegaCorp people are deeply specialized in their roles, its like a assembly line -- you don't get to design the car you screw the bumper on (if that)

Re: Startup vs. Corporate Life

#60

Post by btbuildem »

A little too rose-coloured, this article.

If you want to slog it, really give all you got to someone else's project, a startup is the way to go. You're likely to learn a lot, and your decisions will have direct impact on the well-being of the company.

If you want a stable job that you can put out of your mind when you're not at the office, forget about startups.

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