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thebadcoder -
dev.to staff -
Alverto Ortega -
dev.to staff -
Latest comments (38)
I started up long back in 2011. And from my experience, I can tell that starting up was one of my best decisions so far.
But you need a lot of #passion, #consistency, #never-give-up attitude, and #learning for sure.
I started to work as employee of a big corp at the beginning of PC era. One day the IT big boss came and said PC has no future, and we should go back to Vax (the dominant computer system at that time). I was shocked by his lack of vision, so I quit and promised to never work as employee of a big company again. So I refused a few jobs later in these big corps, but since only them have money to pay big salaries, I still have to work for consulting companies who put me to work inside big corps but at least I wasn't directly managed by a big corp and so I could laugh about all their inefficiencies, especially when they supposedly become "agile" :)
I have also known startups during dotcom as I had a company myself but they were only clients, I never went to work as employee for them. Problem with startup especially in France, is that they're are not stable, they can explode with a market crash due to lack of liquidity, nevertheless if you're young, not married and with kids yet, you can take the risk to work there: you'll learn 10 times faster than going in a big corp. And in fact, when I needed to recruit someone for a project in big corps, I liked to choose a developer from a startup, he has the chance to be much more productive than the others ;)
I've worked at one startup and a few corporate places.
A startup requires a fair amount of personal dedication and belief in the company and it's mission. You have to be able to get along with everyone around you and confront any problems that come up. It is not easy to work at a startup. You will feel both constant pressure, but also constant support from your coworkers. It is an amazing feeling to go through the journey of growing a company with your coworkers (who quickly become your friends).
My corporate jobs have been a lot more comfortable and laid back. You don't have people constantly pushing you to be better. You have people asking you to meet expectations. You will probably have much better pay and benefits which can be important if you are focusing on family instead of career.
I think if you want to push yourself and grow as a professional, you will gain much more from a startup. Right now I prefer startup life :)
"You don't have people constantly pushing you to be better." - This is so true! People just care about your work results. They won't tell you to go study this one new technology because it'll help you in your skills but because it'll be used in the next project.
Although my professional work experience is still limited, I have worked in both and definitely prefer startups.
At a startup, it's much easier to care about the work that you do, become recognized for the work that you do, and suggest/implement changes if something within the company isn't working well (e.g. deployment process).
Is this still possible in a large corporation? Sure. But it's usually difficult to see how your work plays a part of the bigger picture, and the process is so comfortable for many that suggesting anything new will typically become shut down.
If I prefer startup or corporate life is dependent on the culture within the employer you are working for.
I work for a big company. But I work in a small team (10 people per team) which is part of a bigger department which is part of a bigger company which is part of an even bigger company.
I want to work at a company where a startup culture lives. Transparancy and a flat organizational structure is important. We as a team are the most knowledgable about the product we build and therefore we can make many decisions. We know who we need to make the right decision. I am not simply going to do work that is given to me.
I want to work for a company with a startup mindset, working lean where failure is also a success if learnt from.
Startup!
Definitely!
Mostly!
Sometimes!
Ok, startup has freedom to do whatever, you're working for shared goals, driven by passion. But it's also tough, tougher than hell. Probably long hours, constantly thinking up ways to improve. Thinking, did I do the right thing?
Corporate is stable paycheck for soulless work so that the the CEO can buy his tenth beach house, that you probably won't get invited to stay at!
Once you've become accustomed to the wilderness, sitting in a cage doesn't look so good.
Anyways, when I spend X hours a day perfecting something, I'd really like to call it my own at the end of the day.
It depends where you are in your life. I've had both for more than 10 years now in different countries. I think I can say I have had quite a bit of the glamour of the startup life for a while in Amsterdam. It was great for a while - Friday beer, company events, boat trips on the canals and not to mention the location was right in the middle of the historical canal ring!
Then after a few good years everything came to an abrupt end and I was left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. But then we moved to Norway and I worked for a company which was in between a startup and a corporation. It was alright, but I was missing the sense of living in the present so I tried the startup life again some time later - this time it was partly in Oslo, partly in Geneva (at CERN), but I couldn't see myself enjoying the startup life anymore and after only a few months I got the hell out of there and started working as an independent contractor, mainly for large corporations in the Oslo area.
I have to say this is the most fulfilling type of job I've had so far, because I have enough financial flexibility to work on various personal projects and also by working with large corporations as a bit of an outsider you don't get to become just a piece of a machinery. You are still working for yourself. The only problem of course is job security and continuity, but so far I have managed somehow.
The mind set of people in startup are like: need to make it happen at any cost. If you are one in the team, you automatically get that vibes.
In corporate you just go and work. Try to meet the deadline.
I would prefer a big corporate build from scratch and have their own product to work on. Such corporate are always working to make their product better unlike corporation where they just serve the client
Each to their own, I thrive in chaos and in an area with a sense of urgency. Which doesn't happen too often in corporate vs startup land :)
Wooo Startup V Corporate life are very different:
If you like more freedom, autonomy, entrepreneurial ownership, 80/20 rule of "good enough to ship" then startups are a more appropriate work environment.
If you like more stability, resources and a clear job description then corporate is better.
I myself have worked in both environments and I love working at startups but enjoy collaborating with corporate sponsors in community events. So I do a bit of both.
I would say I like aspects of both so any company that can blend the best of both has my vote. What I mean by that:
Do companies like that exist? Yes, absolutely. I've worked at several companies that offered benefits, good salary, great focus on technology, and so on.
Startup for the learning curve and speed.
Corporate for compensation.
At least in Brazil, it's pretty easy to give your life for a startup and be barely get paid.
Startup life FTW!
More dynamic environment, a lot of challenges, you must work on multiple things, not just what is your expertise.
startup
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