How to choose between IC and manager paths?

• What are the factors to look into?
  • Do you enjoy being close & deep into the technical systems or do you enjoy the challenge of maximizing teamwork in a team?
• How fast or difficult is career growth in both the paths?
  • Manager is generally easier since your impact is loosely associated with how many people you report to. However, the less reports you have the more easy it is for 1 unhappy report (or a few) to get you fired (I have seen this happen before). So easier later, but much harder earlier (due to the risk & the initial hurdle of having a completely different job).
• How do the work-life balance and day-to-day life look like in both these paths?
  • As a senior IC, I spent a good amount of time writing and reviewing code and technical systems & a lot of my thinking is directly tied to my understanding of the system. From what I see from my managers, they're more often meeting with other people to talk about how the projects are doing, how are the people doing, and making sure everyone is playing nice.
• Does having managerial experience help here or being strong senior/staff IC help here better?
  • It depends on what your plan for running the startup is: is it going to a smaller, more specialized shop or do you want to have a company that will be the next big company?
  • There's so many variables to consider with a startup and so many directions to consider with your life that are always changing, but experience gained through time will always give you clarity. Just focus on your job right now and let your day-to-day experiences guide you to learning what your path forward is.

This is a very broad generalization, but:

• Managers have an easier time getting promoted at senior levels, but their job becomes more reactive and service-oriented.
• IC engineers have a harder time getting promoted, but can keep some level of autonomy and flexibility.

If your goal is to start a startup, the Big Tech managerial skills won't really help you. Your network will be important, and managers may have wider networks, but the actual management experience is unlikely to transfer over into a startup.