sfuller
"Protected by Viper, stand back."
1) Most startup code is hot garbage.
2) High caliber engineering practices rub off on you. - Surrounding yourself with talent and writing software is the best way to be good at what you do. Being in a small startup, that is almost certainly not going to happen. The numbers just don't allow for it.
3) Don't underestimate the draw of a major player like Google on your resume. - Before working for one of these companies, my LinkedIn mailbox would get maybe one or two messages a year from recruiters. Now my problem is making sure to politely decline all of the messages I get in a timely fashion.
4) A hefty sign-on bonus, HEALTH INSURANCE, and in most cases bonuses or stock offerings normally come as part of the deal with a Google offer. - Do you want a house, car, education, children, retirement? If you answer yes to any of these, a company like Google will give you a great financial foundation to work from so that once you've established yourself you can take more calculated risks with a much better safety net.