Startups vs MNC

It is more about what you care for. MNC's: + Work life balance + Slightly better job security + More peers to observe and learn from + Brand name on your resume - Not many exciting projects - Limited role in project - Slower promotions Startups: + More active role in project + Rapid career growth + Competitive Salaries + Challenging and exciting work + Faster promotions - Little to no work life balance - Less peers to observe and learn from - No one to help when you're stuck Now you can choose based on your priorities.

Apart from what @tenxengineer shared, here's my list: MNCs: + You might find the opportunity to work on high scale problems + You might learn a lot of great practices around software engineering, managing projects, leadership and communication + Cash compensation is usually higher - Fewer greenfield projects usually and you end up doing incremental innovation or maintenance work - You might face lots of friction and bureaucracy if you try to change things Startups: + A ton of entirely new projects which are usually fun + Little to no bureaucracy as the focus would be on getting things done quickly +/- You might get to explore auxiliaries like product management or design pretty well - Scale is usually not that high so technical problems are a bit toned down - Not a lot to learn in terms of good practices

I think one should start his career in startups after spending 3/4 years should move to MNC for wlb or better pay.