Ask HN: Programmers who worked at small and big companies, which do you prefer?
10 comments
Depends on what you’re after. Small companies can be very nimble, enabling you to have more of an impact within the company as you wear many hats. Sometimes less is more and you’ll perform better when you’re forced to work within staffing, budget or time constraints. Often a small company can feel like family. Sometimes stock options can turn into a golden ticket. But with all that comes additional stress and sometimes not great base pay.
Large companies some of the above can still remain true, you get job security through company stability, total comp packages can be much higher and more reliable. Company budgets are bigger so your products can sometimes have a much larger customer impact globally. More availability to move between teams and meet new coworkers or switch offices without much risk.
Medium sized companies are my favorite where the hair on fire foundation was already laid, product market fit is establish, but company is still private and growing quickly. Less risk here but still decent upside and less of the large company regulatory and compliance annoyances that impede velocity.
And in my experience sometimes the size of the company has less to do with quality of life than work culture.
Large companies some of the above can still remain true, you get job security through company stability, total comp packages can be much higher and more reliable. Company budgets are bigger so your products can sometimes have a much larger customer impact globally. More availability to move between teams and meet new coworkers or switch offices without much risk.
Medium sized companies are my favorite where the hair on fire foundation was already laid, product market fit is establish, but company is still private and growing quickly. Less risk here but still decent upside and less of the large company regulatory and compliance annoyances that impede velocity.
And in my experience sometimes the size of the company has less to do with quality of life than work culture.
I prefer the big ones. They have a lot of money, so they can afford to move slower. Also, there's ton of inefficiences inside which means that they you really can't be expected to perform too well. All this adds up to ending the day much more rested that in a startup.
I worked at FAANG as well as several small startups (<100 people).
The perhaps biggest downside of working in a big company is politics. You are no longer working to provide value to customers. Instead, you are playing a game of politics to get ahead of your peers. Sometimes these are correlated - you can get ahead by providing value to end-users, but often there is no correlation at all. After a while this really started to get to me to the point I could no longer stand it.
In terms of learning, I found both environments to be similar if you are motivated. It's true that in a startup you are forced to wear many hats and learn about things outside of your comfort zone. However, big companies will often give you these opportunities as well, they just won't force you take them. It's easy to become complacent. In a startup environment you can't do that.
In terms of risk-adjusted payoff, working for a big company is probably a much better choice than working for a startup.
Personally I prefer startups or small companies at this point, I don't think I could deal with the politics in large corporations again.
The perhaps biggest downside of working in a big company is politics. You are no longer working to provide value to customers. Instead, you are playing a game of politics to get ahead of your peers. Sometimes these are correlated - you can get ahead by providing value to end-users, but often there is no correlation at all. After a while this really started to get to me to the point I could no longer stand it.
In terms of learning, I found both environments to be similar if you are motivated. It's true that in a startup you are forced to wear many hats and learn about things outside of your comfort zone. However, big companies will often give you these opportunities as well, they just won't force you take them. It's easy to become complacent. In a startup environment you can't do that.
In terms of risk-adjusted payoff, working for a big company is probably a much better choice than working for a startup.
Personally I prefer startups or small companies at this point, I don't think I could deal with the politics in large corporations again.
Startups are faster paced and provide faster general skills growth.
For example I was running a team of five devs a year after graduating - that would not have happened at a big company.
I also got the chance to architect complex systems within my first 2 years - again that would not have happened at a big company.
On the other hand by moving to a large tech company my pay quadrupled and I was able to focus on growing my pure coding ability.
I’ve also had the opportunity to solve complex dev problems that we would have just ignored/hacked around in a startup.
Probably my most frustrating experience is that big tech companies are biased towards big tech company experience. My extensive management experience was heavily discounted and I had to join as an IC. It took me almost 5 years to get to the same management level (director) at my current big tech (non-FAANG) company.
For example I was running a team of five devs a year after graduating - that would not have happened at a big company.
I also got the chance to architect complex systems within my first 2 years - again that would not have happened at a big company.
On the other hand by moving to a large tech company my pay quadrupled and I was able to focus on growing my pure coding ability.
I’ve also had the opportunity to solve complex dev problems that we would have just ignored/hacked around in a startup.
Probably my most frustrating experience is that big tech companies are biased towards big tech company experience. My extensive management experience was heavily discounted and I had to join as an IC. It took me almost 5 years to get to the same management level (director) at my current big tech (non-FAANG) company.
I worked at two Fortune 500 (> 50,000 people) public companies and now work at a medium-small sized private company (~500 people). I prefer medium-small company. Also - what number would be small? like < 100?
The only advantage to large companies is if there is a large presence in your area, moving internally between jobs is relatively easy if you want to change things up.
Advantages of small company:
- Privately owned so no stockholder BS or the constant downsizing/offshoring accounting games.
- Most time-wasting corporate stuff is very minimal at a small company. At large corp you could spend hours upon hours doing the mandatory annual security training which ironically required Flash installed to run the big brother tracking video course. Same for ethics, HR and other corporate-y trainings.
- No real politics. Large corp it was common to run into people that didn't contribute anything to the products/solutions. It appeared they existed to slow things down and act out Dilbert comic strips. This can really wear on you. Watch the movie Office Space.
- Want to try a new tech out? Talk with a couple people, give it a whirl - it has to have some purpose though. Large corp: "no, we use XYZ, we've always used XYZ"
The only advantage to large companies is if there is a large presence in your area, moving internally between jobs is relatively easy if you want to change things up.
Advantages of small company:
- Privately owned so no stockholder BS or the constant downsizing/offshoring accounting games.
- Most time-wasting corporate stuff is very minimal at a small company. At large corp you could spend hours upon hours doing the mandatory annual security training which ironically required Flash installed to run the big brother tracking video course. Same for ethics, HR and other corporate-y trainings.
- No real politics. Large corp it was common to run into people that didn't contribute anything to the products/solutions. It appeared they existed to slow things down and act out Dilbert comic strips. This can really wear on you. Watch the movie Office Space.
- Want to try a new tech out? Talk with a couple people, give it a whirl - it has to have some purpose though. Large corp: "no, we use XYZ, we've always used XYZ"
I personally hate big companies. I don't like red tape, and they've got lots of it. Also, I hate politics, and they have lots of that too.
I love small companies. Clearly, not any company will do - there are small companies that generate quite a bit of profit, so you don't need to worry about tomorrow as long as you're doing your job.
I'm not into startups - AT ALL - (at least, the US version of them), which basically pretty much promote "work your ass off - overtime, and the like -for pretty much low pay", with the possibility of making it big being insanely small.
(disclaimer: I do have a company, with a single employee - me, but I don't see myself as a startup; I do have collaborators; I don't ask for overtime, we always agree on "this is the task at hand, and this is what that will cost me")
I love small companies. Clearly, not any company will do - there are small companies that generate quite a bit of profit, so you don't need to worry about tomorrow as long as you're doing your job.
I'm not into startups - AT ALL - (at least, the US version of them), which basically pretty much promote "work your ass off - overtime, and the like -for pretty much low pay", with the possibility of making it big being insanely small.
(disclaimer: I do have a company, with a single employee - me, but I don't see myself as a startup; I do have collaborators; I don't ask for overtime, we always agree on "this is the task at hand, and this is what that will cost me")
You want to join medium-size organizations (< 1000). Big companies have too much red tape, small companies either do not pay very well or do not have enough ability/knowledge to execute.
In medium-sized org, you have more room to grow in terms of projects, responsibility and money. Usually, you have fewer limitations and your projects would have a higher impact. General engineering culture is still the most important factor following compensation. You want to find a place where you will get paid well and you will learn the best practices and tech.
In medium-sized org, you have more room to grow in terms of projects, responsibility and money. Usually, you have fewer limitations and your projects would have a higher impact. General engineering culture is still the most important factor following compensation. You want to find a place where you will get paid well and you will learn the best practices and tech.
I prefer to have more control over my career than some (and less than others.) By control I don't mean that I get to choose what I am currently working on but rather that I can work towards what I will be working on in the future. Mid to large companies that are both well managed and filled with highly capable people tend to enable and encourage this as it can bake in resiliency and helps different parts from becoming siloed.
I prefer working for tiny companies. The last company I worked for had only 3 employees including myself. (Not startups though.)
With a small company, the software is not a "cost center".
Everyone has to pull an oar. You can tell pretty quick in say a 4 person company if someone isn't contributing.
No room for politics.
With a small company, the software is not a "cost center".
Everyone has to pull an oar. You can tell pretty quick in say a 4 person company if someone isn't contributing.
No room for politics.
Obviously mileage will vary based on the company, but try to generalize if possible.