Startup or Established Company? Which Is Best for You?
They say that working in Google or Facebook is the dream of any developer. Large companies offer so many benefits for their employees that anyone wants to get into a large company and receive 100 thousand rubles a month. But here’s a paradox: a lot of cool developers leave large companies for small startups. Why does not it happen? To find out the answer, read this article and draw conclusions: “Stability or risk: is it worth it to leave an established company in order to launch a startup?”
Working at a startup vs. working at an established company
Recently, one of the IT experts who has experience in the largest companies in the industry shared his views on this issue. His vision of the situation reflects quite well some features of the IT market.
Today the myth is quite popular, according to which work in a startup guarantees an infinite number of interesting tasks and huge earnings if you are one of the co-founders of the company.
Experts are not always ready to refute this myth and are often forced to support it. They imagine the corporate environment in the form of a bunch of losers who do not even try to do something other than regular trips to the office.
Simple arithmetic calculations show that even the average wage in an American IT company will allow you to receive a more stable and predictable level of income.
If we talk exclusively about life and work in the United States, many people believe that the very high cost of living will not allow them to accumulate any significant amount of funds over the course of several years of work, but this is far from truth. One of the main ways to reduce costs is remote work, which will allow you not to spend extra on renting a house a stone’s throw away from the office.
Another advantage of the corporate sector is that the recruitment process is more predictable and understandable. There are a lot of online materials about how the process of selecting candidates for Google and other companies is arranged.
Jobs in startups means the absence of any level of stability. Today you are going to a couple of meetings, and tomorrow you have to deal with the fallen project. Even worse is the situation with those who came to the startup as a hired employee, but this opinion is quite controversial.
A startup is synonymous with an IPO or acquisition by a larger company for millions of dollars. Of course, this is the case, but we can speak about a very small percentage of projects. Experts estimate the chances of an average startup below one percent, and this is quite optimistic.
Anyway, success stories do not give rest to the founders. They take risks and create their projects, forgetting about more comfortable working conditions in large companies.
Of course, very few people want to spend several dozen hours each week exclusively on making money. The idea and the opportunity to experiment in the course of its implementation are the most important aspects here. People prefer startups due to them.
On the other hand, it is impossible to say that large companies offer only routine.
Most likely, you will be able to get not only a highly loaded project but a substantial budget for its optimization, along with the opportunity to discuss your tasks and problems with a wider group of experts. For startups, getting something like this will be very difficult.
Many novice experts are skeptical about what kind of experience can be obtained in a large established company. In fact, startups are only good if your goal is to gain experience in the field of entrepreneurship.
Review
“Startup or established company?” This topic is constantly discussed on specialized platforms and forums. We decided to briefly analyze the various user reviews.
Michael Robinson, IT director of the equity investment platform: “Before joining an investment startup, I worked at the largest online retailer of fashion clothes in the USA for five years. I was the head of the development department, later became the IT director. I decided to leave a large company for several reasons. First of all, I wanted to grow not only through my career, but also to acquire new competencies and knowledge, and the new project is always new opportunities, although working in a startup involves numerous risks that I could not ignore. So, for example, I had to read and learn a lot of new things in terms of system administration. I had to do everything myself. And the number of my subordinates has decreased significantly. Secondly, in a large and well-established company, all business mechanisms have been clearly developed, and it is very difficult to develop new directions and introduce new technologies. In a startup, the idea that came to you in the morning can be implemented in the evening, since there is no complicated bureaucratic hierarchical structure. Then, there is a myth on the market that people working in big companies receive huge wages. But the majority of giants of the market pay the usual market wages because the main advantage of such companies is stability. Therefore, despite the fact that I came to a startup, I did not lose money, as I took a higher position. Despite certain challenges and difficulties, I did not regret my decision, since my work became more efficient, I was able to achieve great results. Another important fact: working in a startup, you always feel involved in the work of the whole team, attend all meetings of the board of directors, make all the decisions yourself and influence the development of the company directly.”
Conclusion
Both startups and established companies can offer great working opportunities. Everything will depend on what you would like to do and the efforts that you are ready to make on the path to achieving your personal goals and objectives.
Category: General
Tags: Business, Startup