[joelmaat]

You should obviously be doing projects on the side to not atrophy. As for the smaller company route: since you have a family, then who cares. Just stay sharp and network. Maybe watch the projects you are on, just in case you need to jump ship. Use the free time to put in motion your own vision for life.

[wisco_kid]

Thanks for the feedback and I agree with what your saying. I'm definitely doing side stuff (no TV, learning new languages, working on my ideas, etc...) but one thing you miss is the feeling like you're making an impact. Even though the universe is small (i.e. your company) a day job can make you feel like you are making an impact almost instantly. Whereas it can, and probably will, take years for my own side project to reach the point where I'm impacting the number of people that I do in my day job.

The feedback loop is missing from side projects, at least compared to a day job.

[joelmaat]

This all depends on how lucky/smart you are with the job you select. At many large companies, and at a few (not yet baked) startups you will probably feel as though you aren't having much impact.

I am mostly on the startup/entrepreneurial/side project route because my day jobs were weird and completely devoid of meaning.