Let's make a shortlist step by step. There's a good chance that we find the next big company in the Unicorn List. There are around 500 startups in such a list:

https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

Which startups in this list have the potential to grow rapidly in the next few years? Not all of them for sure! But there are a lot of them: SpaceX, Stripe, 23andMe, Discord, Grammarly, Duolingo, Calm, Intercom, Brex, Airtable, Figma, Canva and Udemy to name just a few.

The final factor? How many of them are in a market big enough to make big companies like Microsoft? This factor gonna make our list way too shorter! But it's hard to be sure. If I want to guess? I easily remove names like Udemy, Canva, Calm, Grammarly and Duolingo from our list...

Actually, I think Udemy might be in a very big market. It competes in the market for continuing learners who could not get an education they wanted during their 18-25 year ages. I would love to work at Stripe and perhaps Discord. SpaceX too, but I am not a resident American.

Although I have my serious doubts about educational startups, seeing them more successful will make me happy for sure. They make a real difference in the world...

I'm not sure which Unicorns are outside US or which one hire remotely... But there are a lot of them. InVision is the only one that comes to mind right now.

US companies are ok, just not defense related companies like SpaceX because they can only hire citizens.

They would be interesting to work for. My issue is I don't have the talent to do so.

As a manager I saw what people can do when you believe in them... So I honestly can't believe anymore that someone isn't talented enough!

A growth mindset, having a plan, real effort and of-course some luck/support, are things that I believe in.

I suggest this thought-provoking TEDx talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc&app=desktop

My main problem is that I got into a big company straight out of school and there were not any opportunities for me. I have been working on systems like FileNet and Neoxam. This greatly limited my opportunity to do something else. Now that I'm married and have a kid, I can't afford to change companies. When I joined the company I could recite pertainate parts of meetings verbatim, but not anymore. I feel potential I had was squandered.

The team I am currently on is finally using some AWS, but i feel the project level leadership is short sighted and the subject matter is extremely boring.

I totally understand you and I know changing the situation can sometimes be way harder than what people would assume...

I heard a heartwarming story recently from Brandon Sanderson. He was saying in his writing class that a full-time writer has an advantage, but don't worry if you can't afford being a full-time writer! If you only write for 4 hours a week, after a year you would have a novel. You have even less time? It would take 2 years but you gonna have your novel eventually. The important thing is consistency...

As an outsider it's not my place to give you any advice. And I know it's not gonna be easy. But I want to encourage you to pursuit what you like to do! It maybe take more time but eventually it's achievable...

I'll just work at my shitty job until I win the lottery, die, or get fired. No one is entitled to happiness, so as long as I can pay my bills I guess that's the best I can hope for.

I feel your frustration... Maybe it's not the day to start any change, but I'm sure you'll change the situation for the better eventually.

P.S. I don't have any technical background, but if you want to just chat with someone, we can be in touch on Discord... ;)

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