Re:Ask HN: Startup vs. big corp fresh out of college?
by ganarajpr on Friday July 17, 2015 @02:20PM
(#9904299)
Unless you can join Google or Facebook, I would say startup.
Here are some good reasons to go with a startup ( If its in your powers, CHOOSE.)
1. Startups are more fun. Like the other commenters said, in just 1 year you will learn quite a lot more in a startup than you would in an enterprise company.
2. If you are joining an Enterprise, you are mostly working on code that is already built by someone else - you have to adapt to that - adjust to that. This is not in itself a bad thing - but my belief is that when you do things from scratch - you learn a lot more. As a freshman - out of college - your main aim should be learning - not money.
3. Startups have the advantage of being a possible rocketship. You never know. If you happen to get on one - you will be set for life. You dont have any remote possibility of doing that in an already established company.
4. I am overly generalizing here - but in a larger company - you will have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy and politics. Its an unavoidable thing when more than a few humans come together. This is detrimental to your growth. It wont allow you to move fast and break things.. which is something you should constantly do as a freshman.
5. Again generalizing, startups are more tech focused ( assuming you are a techie ) and enterprises are more management focused. If you join a startup that is a rocketship, you will most likely learn both tech and management at the same time. If the startup you joined dies, go join another one.
Here are some good reasons to go with a startup ( If its in your powers, CHOOSE.)
1. Startups are more fun. Like the other commenters said, in just 1 year you will learn quite a lot more in a startup than you would in an enterprise company.
2. If you are joining an Enterprise, you are mostly working on code that is already built by someone else - you have to adapt to that - adjust to that. This is not in itself a bad thing - but my belief is that when you do things from scratch - you learn a lot more. As a freshman - out of college - your main aim should be learning - not money.
3. Startups have the advantage of being a possible rocketship. You never know. If you happen to get on one - you will be set for life. You dont have any remote possibility of doing that in an already established company.
4. I am overly generalizing here - but in a larger company - you will have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy and politics. Its an unavoidable thing when more than a few humans come together. This is detrimental to your growth. It wont allow you to move fast and break things.. which is something you should constantly do as a freshman.
5. Again generalizing, startups are more tech focused ( assuming you are a techie ) and enterprises are more management focused. If you join a startup that is a rocketship, you will most likely learn both tech and management at the same time. If the startup you joined dies, go join another one.