[swombat]

Point #3 has nothing to do with large companies being evil - I don't think they are intrinsically evil or good, much like startups, as you point out.

What is certainly true about work in large corporations is that there is a lot of waste and politics, so much so that I think it's fair to say that a large percentage of the average job in a corporation is basically waste. If you're particularly unlucky (as I was on some of my projects), you can even end up doing a project which is a complete waste of time, where everyone knows that it's a complete waste of time, but it needs to be done in order to score someone somewhere some political points that will advance their career.

To me, that is soul-destroying. I can't work unless I care, and forcing myself to care when there is no reason to grinds away at an important part of who I am.