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Ask HN: Work at Google or a Startup?

6 points by dcpdx ↗ HN
To the HN community,

I'm at a crossroads in my career and wanted to reach out to the HN community as I value the insights and experience of everyone here. For a little background, I'm 25, spent 3 years at Shell Oil Co. as a Territory Sales Manager, and quit my job about 6 months ago to join a YC startup in SF. I ended up leaving the company for a variety of reasons, and now face a decision to either go work at Google on their inside sales team in Mountain View, or take a business development lead role at a startup in Pittsburgh, PA. The cofounder and I worked together in college and we actually started a company together during our last year in school. I trust him (I toasted at his wedding this summer), and the company has a solid revenue growth curve with a product that I believe has great potential.

I've always wanted to start a company of my own in the next few years or so, and I want to choose the role that will put me in the best position to succeed when that time comes. Of course, there are other factors to consider, like where I want to live (I've always wanted to live and work in the Bay area), relevance of experience, and the credibility that goes along with a company like Google. Also, I'll probably end up putting down some roots and possibly starting a family within the next few years wherever I end up.

I know that this is a decision that only I can make, but I was hoping some of you may have insights to offer based on your experience either starting a company, working at a startup, or working for a company like Google (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). I want to go where I have the best opportunity to develop my skills and work alongside folks who will take my skillset to the next level. This will be one of the more difficult decisions that I make in my life, so I value input from many different perspectives. Thanks in advance for your comments!

7 comments

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joelmaat
Google is average, really. Especially if you aren't in Engineering. I would agree that the Bay Area is a good place to be, but to succeed, you need a brand of your own and a high quality network of contacts. The day-to-day struggles of operating a business you can learn from others (ask), or by reading a book. One important thing you will have to worry about is hiring. How are you going to attract the level of talent you will likely need to succeed? You will probably need a good brand of your own, a great business idea, and a good network of contacts to recommend/help you. What position best sets you up to meet these needs?
dman
Do the startup - the education of the experience is easily worth it. You are 25, the monetary aspect of your career does not matter too much in the immediate, but the direction you set out for yourself does matter. Doing the startup will give you a birds eye view of what will be required to start your own company a couple of years down the road.
leslyn
I will encourage you to think about your day-to-day needs over time; Do you need predictability in your life? Do you need a lot of structure? Do you need lots of guidance? Do you need personal distance from co-workers? Are you a risk taker? And if so - what level of risk are you willing to assume? Will you regret missing the opportunity if your friend is very successful?

I spent 10 years in the Bay Area and now live outside of Philly.... I prefer it here. But, I believe that your 'roots' are where you are surrounded by people that love and support you. I would ask you why you've always wanted to live and work in the Bay Area? What is the attraction? Does it make sense to your other life goals?

Ultimately, I would encourage you to chase your deepest dream while you are 25 - it becomes harder as you get older and create more responsibility.

dcpdx
I am much more risk tolerant than most, as I gave up a $100K job to join the startup I mentioned a few months ago. The difference between that startup and this one is that I know one of the cofounders well, and both are very intelligent and accomplished (my friend is ex-McKinsey, the other co-founder is ex-McKinsey, Google, and Microsoft with a Harvard MBA). I definitely prefer a more unstructured, figure-shit-out environment which is one of the main reasons I left Shell in the first place.

Probably the biggest reason I would join Google is for the brand name (and, I think I will enjoy the work and the people too). Having Google next to your bio gives you instant credibility (like the quick summary of the co-founders above). The cofounders already have that, but I don't. The question is is it important enough to hinge a big decision on?

And as for why I want to live in the Bay area, I spent the last 4 months in SF and loved it. The weather, the people, the whole vibe are awesome. Plus my brother is now working in LA so we'd be close, although my parents are in Richmond, VA so I'd be closer to them in Pittsburgh.

Looming question at large: Is a brand name like Google necessarily better than being the first biz-dev hire at a promising startup? The startup isn't "sexy" like an airbnb, but they're already profitable and are getting more incoming leads each week which is great to see.

dman
I think you want to work at google to earn some credibility so that you can do what you really want. Why dont you skip one step and just directly do what you want - life is short.
egfx
Here is my experience. I'm 32 now, in 2006 the company I worked for, Neven Vision got acquired by Google. Given the choice to go to work on a startup at the time. I chose to work on the startup. And then spent the later 4 years building it with a team of friends. We eventually grew Ucubd to six people, and got some great press getting featured on Jason's Shark Tank with Groupon. That was kind of a highlight. The rest of it was pure hell. If I wasn't in my late 20's, I would have had a thousand grey hairs. Your first startup will either be a knockout success in short order, but most likely it will kick your ass. I wish I could tell my younger self to just go work at Google. What am I doing now? Working on a startup of course :). 2FB.me .
nostrademons
I previously worked at two startups and founded one and currently work at Google.

I'm going to be weird and say do the startup. This has everything to do with your particular situation; you've already worked at a big company, you'd be joining Google in a sales capacity instead of an engineering capacity, and you like and trust the founders of the startup.

In general you want to optimize for learning experiences. You can get certain learning experiences at Google that you can't anywhere else - but the difference is much less in sales (where things may run a bit more smoothly, you may be introduced to some interesting systems) than in engineering (where there's certain knowledge that you just can't get anywhere other than Google). You've already done the big company thing; Google will have better perks than Shell, it may pay better, but it's not going to be fundamentally different.

BizDev in a startup, however, will expose you to all sorts of challenges that you don't face in a big company. In a startup, everything is an uphill climb; people have never heard of you, and so you need to make them hear of you. And you'll learn a ton in the process.