| I can relate to a lot of what you've said here. I've built a similar super-generalist profile in software engineering and have spent the last decade in startups. Compared to my peers/friends in larger companies, I've always had far less politics/BS to deal with at work. I would not say its non-existent; sometimes all it takes is one bad hire, and the smaller the startup the more outsized the impact of the bad apple. So in that sense, impact is a double-edged sword. On the other hand, I've been able to build a super-generalist profile because of the startups I've worked at. Backend-engineering, frond-end stuff, DevOps, hands-on data-center experience, automated QA, SRE, growth hacking; you name it and I've probably checked that box off at some point in the last 10 years; mostly because I've been able to cultivate good relationships within the company to be able to move around different roles. This would be impossible in a large company, even with a lot of personal connections. A few jumps are possible, but not the kind I'm describing above. The smaller size of startups also means that you have fewer people between yourself and key decision-makers. I've had the good fortune of being able to work directly with/report to CXOs for over half a decade, which IMO provides a lot more exposure to understanding how a business operates. I would not trade that for working with mid-tier management in most large companies. With regards to not being appealing to large companies, I'd say that is not true. I've known folks who've moved from startups to FAANG companies in their mid-40s without any issues. The experience always counts. You may lack some of the specialization, but you can always compensate for that with breadth of experience. Ultimately it boils down to what you want to accomplish. If your goal is to eventually start your own business, working at startups is a great way to get the requisite experience. It is definitely not a walk in the park though. Being able to work with little to no direction, constantly changing goal posts, and the lack of any structure does take its toll on you slowly, but surely. However, I can say from personal experience that I don't regret it one bit. |