As much as I agree with everything said in this article I wouldn't trade my years at a start up for anything. Both financially and emotionally it was awesome. I didn't get rich, and I worked way too much, but it was awesome. I loved the constant change and chaos. I learned so much, way more than I would've in any other type or work place. I made great friends too. It was as bad as the article, but it was way waaaay better too.
This is relatable. It's incredibly satisfying building new things rather than maintaining decades old cruft, regardless of the paycheck, hours and stability.
Also the joy of working in small nimble teams and the freedom to experiment with new technologies. Like everything in life these things are a tradeoff.
I will give you the other perspective. I get paid double what I’ve made at startups, for 35 hours a week, no overtime, no on call, and clear expectations of what success looks like for both myself and my team. I get six weeks of PTO (real weeks, not “unlimited”), 4 months off if we have another kid, and significant bonuses, while being fully remote. This is at what you’d call an “enterprise”.
I am happy to keep existing lines of businesses in maintenance mode for the above comp. My work is just work, I find satisfaction outside of it. My comp and work life balance affords me the ability to indulge my curiosity and academic endeavors outside of work while also providing high quality of life to my family.
As a friend once taught me, “Money and wealth are options, and options are freedom.”
Umm, I do enjoy the things you mentioned (building new stuff, experiment with new tech) but I love doing that on my free time, without pressure, deadlines and bosses.
At work, though, I love: boring stuff I can deal with easily, long epics that end up in features that are barely used (so, no big deal with critical bugs, also no need to be on call). At work I can be done in 4h and call it a day (which gives me TON of free time to experiment with new tech, keep my cv up to date and even fantasize with making my side projects profitable).
I often think about leaving my job for an enterprise role and doing exactly what you describe. After working for years in the professional services space I am confident I could do that job in a few hours per day and spend the rest on other more exciting things.
I value my experience in startups because you learn so much in a short period of time. Meanwhile, in a recent enterprise gig, I had to participate in weeks of debate and upfront planning to add three non-interesting CRUD endpoints to a service.
Everybody’s got to make their bones somehow. The problem comes when you think you have to keep making them. Then you just get exploited your whole career.
>I didn't get rich, and I worked way too much, but it was awesome. I loved the constant change and chaos. I learned so much, way more than I would've in any other type or work place.
How are startups different from average joe soft with 20ppl?
