Small fish in a big tank or big fish in a small tank?

I am thinking of switching from a decent sized company which is profitable to a seed startup. What all things should I evaluate while making the decision?

Hey folks, I have been working in startups for my entire experience and was wondering if it would be worth it to switch to a bigger org for better growth/learning in this market? My reasons to switch 1. Low learning potential: I am a senior SDE here and WLB here is really good, too good in fact (I barely work a couple of hours if even that), this is leading to a lower learning potential, the work I get assigned, I complete in a couple of hours and while I have been given bigger projects, the learning is not there, I can easily complete them, and since I am the senior SDE here, I cant ask anyone to review my code/performance 2. Startup is in early seed stage, and there is definitely an uncertainty here about surviving till next year 3. I wasnt given much of a hike despite a level promotion (just 10%). My manager is really awesome and one of the best guys I have ever worked under and honestly I wouldnt even think of switching if I had 5-6 YOE but at this point, I think i need to learn more and get some more guidance/review from experienced folks to grow. My salary is decent, but having my friends work in FANG/FANG-equivalent is definitely not helping my FOMO, specially when I hear about their projects in their orgs and compare it to mine which are nowhere near theirs in score or complexity. and the reason why I am hesitating to switch is seeing the layoffs news coming in everyday, I can prep for interviews in the next couple of months and probably apply then but seeing all of these layoffs and folks finding it hard to land jobs is making me fear that I will lose this job with nothing to show for it in the end. So, should I switch in this market or stick it out in my current org until market situation improves (considering it wont improve until next financial year)? EDIT: posted this again because I couldn't edit the last post

Hi All, I have 8.5 years of experience. iit + iim (recent 1 year mba ). initially I worked at analytics KPOs , then I worked on my own startup. post that I worked with a b2c startup as a program manager . Worked in growth, analytics , cross functional etc etc Then post mba , I am again working at a startup managing a team of business analysts. I feel like my career is not really going anywhere. I have become a "generalist" suitable for early stage startups but I do not want to work at startups any more. what do I do ? How do I move into bigger companies for better stability OR find a stable suitable startup where I can become a VP (but then a VP of what ? )

I recently started interviewing after a period of about 5 years and I am very surprised about the change in the way interviews are conducted these days. I have now interviewed for few companies like Sitetracker, Avance Clinical, Iron Mountain and expedite commerce and each organisation had their first round as a fit check round which i’m unable to clear. Can you guys share some tips around it.

Hi folks, thinking of writing a regular mini blog here about my learnings being a generalist in the ecosystem. I currently handle growth at an ecom startup and have previously been through 2-3 startups + a large corporate in my 7 year career. #1: Why you should not stay only in startups Recently started reflecting on salaries of many peers who are also startup folks and trying to see where it stands. There are 3 cohorts: a. People who started out in Big 4/Corporate & then became a generalist: They've been underpaid the most. First pay was 4-5L, and when they transitioned to startups, started at 7-9L. Over time, growing from there is difficult without MBA. b. People who have forever been in startups: They earn more than A on average. But here too, there is a delta in their salaries vs. people with same YoE who went to an MBA and are in corporate now. Side note: I've seen this cohort has usually loved what they've done, and being in startups definitely has positively impacted their thought process. c. People who went to a corporate/big tech etc. mid way: This cohort has done the best long term. Their pay got recalibrated when they went to a larger company in the middle through their career, and when they rejoined startups, they were respected more in salary negotiation. This is to anybody out there who is a generalist and sees a similar path. Try to sandwich a proper, large company in your career. It gives you perspective on whether you like it and if startups is really your preferred route. And it also recalibrates your pay. Startups will limit you basis your last salary. Corporates have standards basis bands. Just something to think over. NOTE: Do share feedback, if this makes sense. And if you'd like to read more of these too.

hi folks, wanted to know from people working at smaller (less known) companies as to how much the previous companies you’ve worked at matter while interviewing for FAANG roles? is the hiring primarily driven by algorithms and design questions performance? will working in a small stealth company be a blocker? is there someone who worked in a small company and moved places, if you can share experience. -asking while interviewing for 1-2 YOE roles

I am working in a Pre Seed GenAI Startup (2020 Founded) as Head of Engineering (Team of 20 with 5-6 in Engineering, No CTO) It's been 3.5 years (3yrs Full Time + 6mon Internship) Previously it is in EdTech now in GenAI Space My CTC is 8 LPA + 0.45% ESOPs (10-12L in 25cr valuation). Skills: Nodejs, Nextjs, Monorepos, MongoDB, AWS, Serverless 1-2yrs ago we were thinking about scaling the tech team, etc but then that EdTech model started failing and then we went to a war time after that we pivoted currently also we are burning money revenue is there but very less (25% of the expense) I was of the view that I want to lead teams and scale products That's why I was there in the team It can be the case tomorrow if we scale but Now I am confused whether I should switch my job and or stick with the startup maybe the startup grow tomorrow or a big VC fund us to scale (as I have ESOPs) or it will just be a waste of time or opportunity cost Please guide 🙏 Anyone with a similar startup experience would really appreciate your help 🙏

which one would be better to join and how to evaluate: fairly old startup (~10 years) with extremely competent folks (Top IITs) VS 2 year old startup in Seed Stage with friendly team but team size <10 getting similar comp but much higher stocks in the seed stage. extremely confused because I think it’ll be similar work life balance in both. don’t know if it’s right time to take risk so early in my career (my YOE: <1) I also think the work might be hectic in the first than the second. learning curve might be more in the first. from another standpoint, the first company is much more well recognised and more "stable" also- for folks who have been in the job for a while, how important would it be to stay close to your home eventually? do you feel lonely in cities away from home? sometimes I feel I should go for stability and other time I feel it’ll be fine at max the early startup will give me atleast one year experience so very confused

Hello folks, I am working with a startup (now acquired by a big fintech) as FTE for 1.5 years now (Full stack dev) , my TC is 18 LPA (14.4 Fixed + Variable) in a permanent wfh model. The reason I want to switch is that my tech team is very small (4 people) and there is no senior person in my team from whom I can learn something, thus my learning has become stagnant technical wise. Should I try and switch company or stay in the same for more time, considering the current market scenario? PS: I am a 2022 graduate.

I'm considering an offer from a BLR based startup which is >Series D. This is for a Growth role. Currently in a Series B startup where I have been for about 3 years now (been here since inception) and have 1% equity. What would be the right % of equity to ask for while making the switch? 9 YOE. Would also be helpful if anyone can share the benchmarking of % equity for maybe every Series for the larger benefit of the community. TIA.