Big Tech or not?
How to think about what organization to join
👋 Hey, Madhur here! Welcome to my Newsletter. I write about technology and lifestyle. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive all my posts directly in your inbox. Happy reading.
I recently spoke at one of the online webinars conducted by Equipt and one of the questions which were asked was “How to decide between big tech and small companies to join for a job?”. I have seen this question prompt up a lot and thought maybe it’s a good idea to have some pros and cons of what it is to work for different kinds of companies. I think there are a bunch of differences and all of them are great choices depending on what stage of life you are in and what you want from your job.
Big Tech
Big Tech is companies like Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.
Pros
Good mentorship opportunities. Most people just out of school will generally find this helpful as they want to learn from experienced people.
More flexibility to change teams. In big companies, it’s relatively easier to find new teams and also the process is not that tedious. You also have opportunities to explore entirely different domains as these companies work on multiple very different domains of projects.
More upfront liquid money. These companies are generally public and in every vesting period, you can sell your equity for cash. This is a good option for someone who has an education loan or financial need to support their family.
Cons
Slower growth. In a big company, you might not get enough freedom to explore and experiment. The scope is very tied to the project you are doing and everything else is a black box. So this does result in slower growth in terms of your technical skills.
Sometimes too comfortable. Sometimes people get too comfortable and are resistant to change. Over time it becomes very hard to switch companies and teams and that might hinder your career development.
Mid-stage
These are companies like Coinbase, Stripe, Twitter, etc who has their product market fit and they have a good amount of employees (500-5000).
Pros
Good mentorship opportunities. Similar to Big Tech, you can find good opportunities for growth.
Less black-boxed systems. You get a chance to explore and build things end to end and growth is typically more than a Big tech.
If the company becomes successful (at this stage it’s more probable than an early stage), you will reap the financial upside which could be more than Big Tech.
If you need to work on scaling systems, this might be a great place to do that.
Cons
Relatively unstable than Big tech as it’s still in the growth stage.
If it’s a pre-IPO company, you will have relatively less upfront money. If it’s a public company, the stock value might be unstable and your finances will vary greatly.
Early Stage
These are the companies that have less than 20 employees and potentially don’t have product market fit. They are in their Seed or Series A funding stage.
Pros
Exponential learning growth since you will have to wear multiple hats. You will fail and learn a lot of times.
You have to figure things out by yourself and help innovate and this happens faster than the above two types.
You generally don’t have to deal with big organizations’ politics and bureaucracy.
If you are a product-oriented person and really vibe with the company then this is the right place.
Cons
Less upfront money. You will be paid mostly in equity which is not liquid and since it’s a very early-stage company it has more chances to fail. This is not a good option if you need money soon. It’s a long-term bet.
Relatively fewer mentorship opportunities. This is a place where you have to just do whatever it takes and sometimes mentorship is hard to find since everyone is quite busy doing their work.
Generally more working hours than above two kinds of companies.
There is no concept of team changes since it’s a very small company with a very high focus on one thing which is the mission of the company.
Even though I have categorized pros and cons there is always a possibility that they don’t always fit the category I mentioned. It can very well vary based on the company and the person who is joining a company. This is just to give an idea of what is more likely to happen in these kinds of jobs.
As I said before, there is no absolute right or wrong in choosing a job in any of these types of companies. It is totally dependent on what you are looking for and where you see yourself in the future.
If you have more points that could be a deciding factor, feel free to comment and I can add them to this. Hope this helps in deciding what step you want to take in your career.
If you enjoyed reading this you may be interested in following me on Twitter and Medium.