In the current market, is it better to prioritize jobs at large tech companies or hypergrowth unicorns?
Large tech companies used to provide a sense of stability and financial security, but with falling stock prices and layoffs everywhere I wonder if joining a hyper growth late-stage startup with a growing business and hefty pre-ipo RSUs is a better choice?
![Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] at Amazon company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Famazon_logo.jpg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dff5f2302-08be-43bc-b7b1-d381ba508d99&w=48&q=75){kind=logo}
Discussion
(7 comments)- 2
4 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroFor senior engineers like yourself, I actually think the pre-IPO unicorns are better as you will get the equity at a discount (many unicorns have gone through huge down rounds in the current market). So in that case, you will get both the extra learning and extra compensation (though you will have to wait 1-3 years).
For more junior engineers, I still recommend going to Big Tech for the stable foundation and learning consistency as we talk about here: Why You Should Start Your Career At A Big Tech Company
That being said, getting a FAANG offer is near impossible for junior engineers and it's still quite tough for all engineers overall, so I recommend folks cozy up to startups. If you join a good startup, you'll learn way more there compared to Big Tech. Check out this upcoming event to learn more: Startups Are Better Than FAANG For Career Growth: When + Why
- 14 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
The risk is identifying which companies are in this category: a hyper-growth late-stage startup with a growing business and hefty pre-IPO RSUs.
Companies that raised in 2020 - 2022 may be "zombie startups" that will IPO significantly below their last round of funding, or may never IPO altogether. I would not rely on headlines about the company, since those can be misleading.
Instead, talk to people who have been at the company for some time, or other insiders who have a smart point of view.
If you don't have that inside knowledge, my general rule of thumb would be to prefer the larger tech cos.
BTW, the fact that public companies have a falling stock price is good -- the market reflects the current thinking unlike the illiquid VC market. So if you come in when a stock is low, you get rewarded more when the stock goes up.
One of the best threads on Taro about evaluating a startup: How to evaluate a startup?
Sai has some good thoughts here: How do you assess company’s market position (especially startups)?
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4 months agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]OtherWhat are your thoughts on company reviews on Glassdoor or Blind?
- 24 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
Not very reliable -- the "average employee" usually won't post on Glassdoor or Blind. You get an over-representation of disgruntled workers or the reviews that the company asked employees to write.
- 14 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
Glassdoor is C-grade information while Blind is D/F grade. The best information comes from reverse interviewing them (i.e. you need to put in the work to ask sharp questions): https://www.jointaro.com/course/master-the-behavioral-interview-as-a-software-engineer/interviews-are-a-2-way-street/
- 14 months agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]Other
Thanks ya'll!!
- 04 months agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]Other
Something I've found also found to be useful is DMing people from the company on Blind and asking specific questions about their work / team / manager etc. YMMV depending on company size, etc. but still better signal than an outdated / disgruntled review IMO
