Agreed, was just about to say this. I worked at a startup straight out of school, but that was because it was a spinoff of a research project I was already working on.

However, I'm at a more established firm now, and the fact that I can spend time building systems properly and work on self-development is invaluable. I think working for a big company, even a giant bureaucracy, out of school, is not a bad thing at all, provided you can spend a few hours independently working on side projects.