It's certainly not coincidence that both Microsoft and Google use C++ for their big web apps. I'm suggesting that the opportunity to learn how and why their systems work as they do is a valuable one, even if you'd rather be coding in Python, Ruby, or Arc.

The poster talks about being the <10th employee, so I don't think he's considering going to work for Microsoft or Google.

It's questionable that there is much overlap between the "hows and whys" of the practices of these companies (that count their employees by the thousands and their bottom line by the billions), with the "hows and whys" of what you need for a startup.

Any opportunity to learn is valuable; whether learning the MS/Google way is a good choice depends on your alternatives.

I couldn't agree more