[smt88]

There's not really a concrete formula here, and it really depends on what you want to do.

If you want to do cutting-edge research, you're probably better off at a large company. I just read about how HippyVM couldn't compete with HHVM. One main reason is that HHVM wasn't asked to make money in the beginning. It started as just a research project, with the hope of maybe saving on costs in the future. That kind of thing is only possible when you have extra cash.

If you want to work for a startup, a reasonable goal would be to have the skills to get the startup from pre-revenue to revenue without hiring anyone else. That's generally what I do in my work. I can guarantee that the company won't have to hire anyone else until there's revenue and a fairly large number of customers.

If you want to work for a small company, just stay on the lookout for those jobs while at the large company. If you represent your skills honestly and the small company hires you, then there's no reason to overthink it beyond that.