[lionspaw]

I'm not someone that drinks the startup koolaid by any means, but I agree with them that working for a large company has very limited value if your goal is to start your own company.

I worked for one of the biggest tech companies as a developer, and I learned no real skills in my tenure there. My responsibilities were just so narrowly focused and any knowledge I gained was specific to that codebase, which is not useful at all to potential future work.

The sad thing is, the best way to increase efficiency at that job was knowing the existing codebase better. I chose to quit instead.

[hugs]

The biggest benefit of a stable paycheck for a few years at a medium-sized or big corp is building your cash reserves. Even if you learn nothing in that job, having 1-2 years of savings in the bank before quitting and starting your startup will give you leverage when dealing with investors early on. You won't need to take angel or VC money to get started.