> You can go an entire career without seeing how a functional company works.

having worked at a few dysfunctional companies, there's value in it. you learn to spot red flag decisions and the kinds of people that tend to cause organizations to explode from within. a Lot of the success at my current company can be attributed to decisions I've made that came from experience at failed startups where we did the opposite.

Exactly! being able to recognize the wrong thing is just as valuable as recognizing the right thing

Great, then at least you can see what you don't like! (But really, I intentionally said a company you want to emulate, because I do agree – no point in taking this advice if you go to a bad company)

also helpful to see a dysfunctional company (or four) to cover your bases on shitty management practices

Learning what NOT to do is almost as valuable as knowing what to do.