Is it Still Worth it for Big Tech?
How do you know which one is a better fit, startup or big tech? The Big Tech edition
👋 Hi, this is Akash with this week’s newsletter. I write about leadership and growth in software engineering. Thank you for your readership.
This week, I’m sharing how working at a big tech might just be what you need. In the evergreen debate on startups or big tech, I will talk about my experience. Hope you enjoy this edition!
Startups provide you an opportunity to own multiple big pieces to land impact. Big Tech engineers get told they’re one of a hundred thousand employees.
Another common phrase is, “The process overhead slows down your growth at large companies”.
Do you grow less as a Big Tech engineer?
These might make you question why Big Techs are still relevant.
The Internet is predominantly filled with articles belittling Big Tech. Today, I’m debunking common myths. Big Tech is not all bad.
I will balance the scale to help you choose startups or large tech.
⭐ Main Takeaways
Big Tech is not slow, nor all bad
3 reasons why Big Tech might be the best fit for you
🥊 Startups over Big Techs?
Over the past decade, I have worked at companies ranging in size from 5 to 200K. Before joining Big Tech, I worked at a couple of startups. Given a chance today, I’d not trade any of them. Each place had different things to teach me.
However, my growth accelerated when I joined Google. (In a collaboration article with
, I shared my growth story at Google. )It's natural to feel insignificant when you enter a workforce of over one hundred thousand people. This feeling is real, but it gets blown out of proportion on social media.
Have you heard any of the following about Big Tech engineers:
“You are just a small fish in a big pond.”
“Your contributions are insignificant to the business.”
“You are too far away from the real world, lacking purpose.”
I don’t agree with a single one of them. In startups, it’s likely you are friends with the CEO; lack of that doesn’t mean your contributions don’t impact the business. Let’s look at some metrics,
That’s almost a Series A startup according to the Q4 2022 US startup's median valuation just by yourself. I will debunk three myths about growth at Big Techs, backed by my experience.
1) Limited Impact
When I was at Chrome, more than 3 billion users used our software. My work touched every single one of them. Does having an impact equate to the number of projects? I don’t think so.
Let’s focus on something I’ve worked on at Google.
“SLSA is a security framework, a checklist of standards and controls to prevent tampering, improve integrity, and secure packages and infrastructure.”
I was one of the early developers who built SLSA. Today, it’s an industry-leading standard that led to the launches of 10+ successful startups.
Big Tech can provide you with the platform to change the world.
2) Slow Development
In recent days, many of us have compared Google with Open AI. But the core technology, “Transformer” was developed at Google in 2017. Getting to market is a business decision; most of the time, it is orthogonal to development.
Another example of this was my interactions with Amazon. Their customer obsession isn’t an unknown fact. We had a use case for supporting a custom pre-signed URL schema in S3. Our account manager worked with the team and released this feature within two weeks.
Big Techs give you more opportunity to “rest and vest”. But, slow development is universal. Often, it’s an individual choice.
3) Reduced Learning
One of the common questions that I get is, “What do you do besides maintaining? Aren’t all systems already exist in Big Tech?”
It’s true in many cases. Systems exist. But learning isn’t limited to building systems from the ground up. At large companies, you’ll be
Serving a billion vs. a million users
Optimizing a system from 99.9 to 99.99+
Learning from the brightest minds about architecture
Ultimately, learning depends on the individual. Every environment has something to teach.
🤔 What should you choose?
Choosing between startups and large tech companies can be confusing. Each environment exposes you to different challenges. It comes down to:
What do you want from your career?
Where are you in your life?
What are your interests?
Keeping aside financial aspects, Big Tech is a good fit if you:
Enjoy building systems at a planetary scale
Want to build deep expertise in a specific area to
Prefer structured learning and development opportunities
If I were to redo my career, I’d start it in a Big Tech company. Large companies can provide closer supervision, and their processes can organize your thinking. You get exposed to the scale and challenging work and build a strong network. This is why you might see many startups founded by Big Tech engineers.
🌟 🔍 Parting Thoughts
Startups or Big Techs is a forever debate. Ultimately, you should never join a company for its status or brand. So far, we’ve talked about the advantages of large companies. Some of these can apply to startups as well.
A career is a personal journey; what has worked for you in your career?
Share in the comments!
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Loved the article. It’s a very less spoken subject, thanks for sharing your views.
This is an outstanding article, Akash!
I'd add one more perspective - starting in a small comapny. This is a great opportunity if you don't know where you want to grow.
Small companies force you to do everything - from server management to talking to customers. They allow you to tackle all sorts of problems and acquire broader (not deeper) knowledge.
I hope that makes sense.