Most startup vs corporate discussions all come down to a lot of anecdotal evidence that falls on both sides of the spectrum.
I have worked for several startups as well as several "big corps".
Without naming names; I'm just going to lay things out in a sort of chronological order.
Try to find something you love there are good and bad in both startups and big corporations.
Big Co #1)
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I was brought in as an intern; this was my first exposure to the professional IT world. I learned a lot, the job was secure, benefits were good, nice people all around too.
I was groomed for the spot I was interning and when a full time spot opened at one of our locations half way across the country I was asked to take that opening and move. While the job was secure, benefits were good, and the pay going into the full time position was pretty stellar I felt dissatisfied at the time and didn't want to get "stuck" working there the rest of my life, so instead I turned down the offer and jumped to startup #1.
Startup #1)
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This was a great environment, we were having a lot of fun. People were working a few extra hours, but nothing too bad. I really enjoyed it there; they really took off and these days they are now a "big corp".
Things probably would have been ok if I had stayed there instead of moving on to startup #2
Startup #2)
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Work environment was great; very small close knit team. I loved every minute of it right up until I was layed off unexpectedly and the company closed their doors virtually overnight due to their single largest contract being dropped with no notice due to a change in federal government funding policies.
Still not too jaded by things; both startups had been pretty good to me so far I moved on to
Startup #3)
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This place was just insane. People constantly were being asked to work more and more hours even while the company appeared to be growing quite quickly. Then the police showed up at the company to arrest the CEO; he subsequently went to prison for some type of loan fraud (I never looked into the exact details).
This didn't slow things down though; his equally honest son was there to take over the reins of the company. He demanded even more hours of everyone while trying to slash costs/spending everywhere. We were actually called into a company meeting where he pointed out the window at the parking lot and said, "At 8pm at night this parking lot is virtually empty. That is unacceptable. I expect people stay as long as it takes for our deadlines to be met."
Not long after that happened my boss came to me and told me that he was quitting because a sale of the company was imminent and that it was not going to be good for the employees. He advised that I get out early because the job market wasn't going to be able to absorb that many programmers after the sale. Things were pretty bad; I was already unhappy; so I took his advice and moved on to startup #4. Less than 3 months after I left the company was sold in a major acquisition where the purchasing company was after our high profile clientele. Almost the entire development staff was killed; our products were all killed; existing clients were moved to the product of our competitor who had bought us out.
Startup #4)
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Tiny little startup; one major investor. I worked way too many hours, but I enjoyed it. We never turned a profit and eventually ran out of money. Eventually they couldn't even make payroll. They were unable to pay me about $10K in salary that I was owed due to there being no money left. The end.
Startup #5)
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Holy dear god and anything that is holy; this place was a living hell on earth. Unfortunately, the job market at this point had turned really sour so I couldn't find a job to save my life. So I accepted a position with this terrible startup. I was working 60+ hours a week, every week. I was getting calls when I wasn't at the office to come in and put out fires even at 2 and 3am. It was incredibly terrible and awful.
I was finally fed up with startups. So I decided it was time to move on to big co #2
Big Co #2)
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This place was so good to me. The time off was great; I was used to working my ass off from startup culture so I was able to put in half as much effort as I normally had to and was still getting more done than the people around me. Meanwhile most of the development team was just coasting by and doing the bare minimum while complaining that they had too much to do.
Despite what experiences other people had; this worked out great for me. 3 years in a row I was promoted and given stellar raises for my outstanding contributions. I was traveling on the companies dime frequently; which I really enjoyed as well. All in all I really loved this place. I also did not feel like a "cog" here; I was making major contributions to key projects at this place.
Startup #6)
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So it was with some real hesitation that I left Big Co #2. At this point I was actively recruited, not by some recruiter, but by a former colleague to come and join startup #6. I out right refused to entertain the idea, but this colleague was very persistent and kept talking about better pay, fat stocks, etc... He promised me a wonderful company culture, etc... and as he said, "It can't hurt to at least come in and talk to the VP."
So I had a sit down with the VP at this very new, but very well funded, startup. I was offered a ridiculously huge pay increase as well as stock that would vest in 3 years. It turned out that the cost was my life. I was working 7 days a week including holidays; usually from 8 am until 1 or 2am. Despite what everyone says; yes more hours can me more work gets done. But at what cost; my health was on a steep decline due to lack of sleep primarily. I was feeling burned out as hell at the 2 1/2 year mark but pushed on since that stock vest was so close.
The CEO though was a complete megalomaniac asshole (and this is being nice) that never liked me from the beginning. Despite the fact that I personally implemented more projects and delivered on more customers than any other developer in the group; he fucked me out of my stocks by firing me 1 month prior to them vesting. I got zero out of that. The VP called me an personally apologized and told me how unfair it was and that he even he couldn't believe that the CEO would be that big of an asshole especially considering how much it was going to hurt the company to have me gone.
Big Co #3)
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At this point; as one might imagine I was rather jaded by the whole startup scene. So I went to another big co. I said going in; "I'm done. I'm taking a job at this big co and I'm going to stay there until I retire."
Most people sat around here pretending to be busy when they really didn't have enough work for all of the employees. There were no opportunities for me to advance because there really wasn't enough work to go around; and people who had work to do sure weren't going to share. They were going to hold on for dear life in case layoffs came they wouldn't be the ones to get hit. And those layoffs sure came. In my 3 years there 3 rounds of layoffs hit. Each time I was sweating that the executioner was going to come for each time. And each time I was granted a stay of execution.
I was bored out of my mind and worried that it was only a matter of time before I got cut.
I started interviewing at other places; I considered several startups, but due to my past experiences I turned them down. I was really selective and focused on trying to find a position that valued my time, my knowledge, presented challenges, and had stability.
Eventually I found a small team within another big co that really seemed to fit with what I was looking for.
Big Co #4)
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That brings us to today. I work on a small team within a huge organization. We create products that make a big difference. We value creativity, productivity, and personal life. This is a team, more than any that I've worked with in the past, where we like and respect each other and I like to see these people outside of work. Will I stay here until I retire? I can't answer that, but I can say I love my job. It is challenging and rewarding, but it allows me to have a personal life as well.