David Vs. Goliath: Startups and Big Tech, Which Trumps Which?

Ex-Google TechLead explains differences between working at a tech startup and a large company, and their pros & cons.

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Video Transcript:

Note: This transcript is auto-generated by YouTube and may not be entirely accurate.

00:00hey tech leech here and welcome back to00:01another episode of the tech lead today00:04we're going to talk about a very00:05fascinating interesting topic startups00:07versus big tech companies it is coffee00:10time with the tech lead I am the tech00:12lead at Google tech lead by the way00:14let's have a sip here not bad not bad at00:20all now sunny cooler let me just clarify00:24something for you if you are working in00:27tech adult and I think that you're gonna00:29be doing great you're gonna be doing00:30good and no choice is really going to be00:32a bad choice and startup or big tech00:34company it's all good really now I have00:36worked in a combination of startups as00:38well as at Google as an X Google tech00:41lead and they're very different in some00:44ways but they're also very similar the00:45quality of life that you get your00:47overall standard of living it's about00:49the same really now we have a new00:51sponsor today and I would actually00:52highly recommend that you guys check00:54them out00:54ting mobile if you live in the US and00:56you're using cell phone service and00:58you're paying like 50 60 bucks a month01:00for this service it's a contract you're01:02locked into one or two year contracts01:04you know that's just really not the way01:06to go there are far better options ting01:08Mobile offers you paper use cell phone01:10service and the cost is very cheap you01:12can figure out how much it might cost01:14you I would say for an average person01:15it's probably gonna be 15 to 25 bucks or01:18something like that and one of the best01:19parts is that there's no contract you're01:21not locked into anything you know I01:23remember when I was trying to become a01:24world citizen travel all over the place01:26and embrace that mobile lifestyle one of01:29the things I was really locking me down01:30was my cell phone service it was just01:32tying me to the u.s. tied me down there01:34with that one or two-year cell phone01:36contract and that was one thing that01:37kept weighing on me so with t-mobile you01:40get a no contract cell phone plan you01:41get voice messaging data all comes at01:44the very reasonable standard rate and01:46the great thing is it's so simple to01:48setup there's no contract you just send01:49them a dollar they send you a SIM card01:51back you plug that into your cell phone01:53and then you're off and running and when01:54you're gonna save so much money check01:56them out ting Mobile there'll be a link01:57in the description below and you can01:59thank me later you know no matter02:00whether you're working at a startup or a02:02big tech company you're gonna be having02:04a pretty sweet comfy job you're gonna go02:06and you work at the computer you do some02:08typing do some code spend some time02:10surfing the net surfing reddit play some02:12ping pong you may02:13have to pay for your online tour you may02:14get some lunch catered and by the way02:16the food that these large tech companies02:18are not necessarily better there may02:20simply just be more variety but it's all02:22going to be buffet style food and often02:24is quite easy to beat any of the sweet02:26just go to any restaurant and the food02:28quality is already going to be beaten02:29supposedly they like to advertise that02:31they've got all-star chefs but in order02:33to feed thousands of people it's just02:36going to cost way too much they're gonna02:38end up using more basic ingredients trip02:40ingredients and then do it buffet style02:42and you're not going to want to eat too02:43much food anyway it's not gonna be02:45healthy for you just gonna get02:46overweight essentially most of the time02:48no matter where you are you're going to02:49be working at the computer doing some02:51code across startups and big tech02:53companies is going to be similar now02:55let's talk about the main differences02:56here one is going to be compensation02:58compensation at a tech company a public03:01tech company is going to be well-known03:02it's going to be fixed03:03you're gonna know exactly what you're03:05getting is a public company and when you03:07get stuck you're gonna know for sure03:09that that's going to be worth something03:10when you go into a start-up you don't03:13really know what the value of that stock03:15is going to be and oftentimes it's going03:17to be a complete mystery it's going to03:18be completely obfuscated for you and03:20startups have a bunch of different ways03:22to screw you over they can dilute the03:24stock they can kick you out fire you03:25before they IPO they can delay their IPO03:28intentionally and force you to stick03:29around and stay at the company and work03:31longer they can tell you that you have a03:32million shares but it really there could03:34be a hundred trillion shares outstanding03:36and many companies simply aren't going03:38to tell you what percentage of the03:40company you truly own and even if you03:42were to somehow find that out which you03:44probably won't be able to find out most03:46companies I've seen they never quite03:47tell you exactly what percentage you own03:49even if you do find out they're just03:51going to devalue that when you finally03:53leave the company when you quit03:54oftentimes they'll say that you have to03:56exercise these stock options within a03:58certain amount of time like saying you04:00got three months to use that up and when04:02you do exercise those options you're04:04going to have to pay tons of taxes on04:05this stuff if the company never IPOs and04:08it could take ten years before the04:10company actually IPOs you've just paid a04:12bunch of money on stock and you've taken04:14a big risk you don't really know what04:16you're getting sometimes this stuff all04:18pans out maybe you'll get some money but04:20oftentimes it's not necessarily going to04:22be life-changing money I'm known04:24scenarios where I've joined companies04:26actually in other04:26people join companies and then the04:28startup eventually gets acquired right04:30acquisition happens more commonly than04:33IPOs and in an acquisition everybody04:35gets some payment for their stock it's04:37not all that much it's not really04:39life-changing money you might be like 5004:41K right 60 K something like that04:43if you're lucky it could be more if04:45you're not lucky it could be less one04:47thing that a lot of engineers don't know04:49is that even if your engineer number one04:51at the company you could already be04:53getting less than say 1% of the company04:55you would be putting in as much work if04:57not more work than the founders and04:59still the founders would have like 99%05:01of the company you would have one05:02percent or even 0.1% by the time your05:06employee numbers say ten or twenty your05:08ownership would already be point zero05:10zero zero one percent or something like05:11that05:12it would be a minuscule amount and05:13that's just a culture of startups05:15personally I got so disgusted by all of05:17this one time I remember I had the05:19business partner a friend and we were05:21going to start a company together and05:23then he said that yeah we would be 50/5005:26partners except he wanted 50.1% and I05:29would get 49.9% I just thought why why05:32not just 5050 and he was so insistent on05:35this point that it smelled fishy to me05:37and I backed out of the whole deal and I05:39didn't start the business because I05:41figured that he could just say well05:43let's take a vote should I get kicked05:44out of the company after I feel05:46everything yeah let's take a vote he's05:48got 51% ownership oh yeah he wins I mean05:50he could just kick me out he can do05:52whatever he wants now it's just our05:53pretty tricky and I remember there were05:55even times in my life when I just sort05:57of said to myself I don't like startups05:59I don't want to work at them and if I06:01were gonna work I would rather work06:03either for a large tech company or I06:05would found the company on my own and06:07those would be the options I would be06:08going for now having said that let's06:11talk about some of the good things about06:13startups because I've worked out a few06:15of them and there's some good things06:16about them one is the challenges are06:18going to be very different between06:20start-up and large tech company large06:22tech company you often work in a large06:24code base a lot of the challenges are06:25going to be organizational you're going06:27to have to deal with a lot of people06:28cross-functional teams and there's going06:31to be a ton of code and people blocking06:32everything that you're trying to do and06:34in a small tech company in a start-up06:36you're going to have a lot more freedom06:38and anything you want to do06:39anything you want to try just not going06:42to be a lot of people standing away you06:43want to try something you have the06:45flexibility to try that and that goes06:47for rolls as well so if you don't really06:49want to be an engineer let's say you06:51want to be more of a product manager or06:53designer or prototype or in a large tech06:56company it would be an entire shift in06:58careers you would have to get the proper07:00approvals maybe even do an interview07:02just so that you could do some p.m. work07:03however in its small startup you're07:06gonna have a lot more freedoms to take07:08on any role that you want and in this07:10sense I would say that there may even be07:12better career mobility for example if07:14you wanted to get into management it may07:16take a lot of effort to get into say07:18senior management at Google right that07:21would require you proving yourself and07:22everything but if you were to go to a07:24start-up you could probably get a07:26management role quite easily because the07:28requirements just aren't as strict you07:29can start building up your experience07:31and over a number of years you would07:33have that experience and then you can07:34transfer into large tech company like07:36Google and do management there and you07:38would already have built up a lot of07:39that experience if that were your07:41interest and so if there were areas in07:43your career that you want to do develop07:45more into a startup may be a good path07:47for that and that's really what a07:48startup is good for I would say it's07:50learning so I would recommend this if07:54you are a junior engineer or even if07:56you're not and you want to get some more07:58experience and learn and build your08:00skills in a certain technology there may08:02be a field that you're interested in08:03getting more until you think it's cool08:05and you want to do that then the startup08:07is a great way to do that the worst08:09reason to join the startup is because08:11you think as a library ticket and it's08:13going to make you rich and you hate the08:14work and you're not trying to learn08:15anything but you're just doing that08:17currently for the money because in that08:18scenario I would say I startup there's a08:21little chance it's going to work out for08:22you if I you curveballs money the other08:24thing I might mention here is that I08:25don't think money is the proper08:27motivation number one if you're a junior08:29engineer say either way your pace look I08:32know it sounds like a lot for you now08:34but it's not going to make a difference08:35for you in a few years when you look08:37back on that salary range that you're at08:39just spend your time trying to learn and08:41guide your career in the direction that08:43you want it to go to but trying to argue08:45and optimize for a few thousand bucks08:47here and there it's just not really the08:49right time to be doing that because08:50you're really splitting pennies at08:52point the other great thing about08:53startups is they can be a little bit08:55more closed now I remember I worked in a08:57start-up with one of my professors and08:59during the company holiday party it was09:02just us with our spouses or girlfriends09:04or boyfriends or whatever and there just09:06felt more like a family the office was09:08like the professor's living room you09:10don't really get this sort of dynamic09:11when you're in a larger company in which09:13it's an open door right people are09:15coming and going all the time and09:17there's tons of people that you may be09:18interacting with you don't really get to09:20know anybody really that well sometimes09:22people just get fired to just disappear09:25randomly and that just seems to happen09:27sometimes09:28so overall let me put it this way I09:30think that if you can get into a large09:31tech company then you might as well try09:33and it's good to explore your options09:35and see what you can get09:36but startups are great too you can learn09:39a lot there develop your skills and09:40experience there are some good09:42connections get to know some people09:43there and overall it's probably going to09:45be a pretty good time working there09:46because it's not like going to a large09:49tech company like Google you're gonna09:50have a 10 times better experience there09:53it's not quite like that it's more like09:54it's just bigger it's not like the food09:56is 10 times better it's not like the09:58computers are 10 times more powerful10:00it's still essentially the same stuff10:02the same environment that you're working10:03in maybe for lunch instead of having a10:06single item on the menu you may have 1010:08different items on the menu but you10:09still just pick one thing to eat when10:11you interact with people and self10:12interacting with five people you may10:14have to interact with 50 people when you10:17work on a codebase it would just be a10:18larger codebase and the office overall10:20may be larger instead of having a single10:22building there may be 10 different10:24buildings that are interconnected but10:26you still end up going to a single10:27building your small little desk whenever10:29you're going to work in that sense the10:31work environment is similar and often in10:33many scenarios a startups work10:35environment the facilities the bathrooms10:38the kitchens that stuff can actually be10:39better and higher quality than what you10:41may find that large tech companies I10:43will say that for a lot of people it10:44might make sense at some point once10:46you've learned enough once you've10:47developed enough experience that you may10:50want to prioritize compensation maybe10:52make sure that you've got some real10:53money on the table that you can lock in10:55there maybe tackle some different types10:57of technical problems and challenges10:59those that have to do with larger code11:01bases dealing with many different types11:03of people you know that11:04interesting challenge in itself and also11:06just add some more options to your lunch11:08menu those are all things that larger11:10tech companies will be able to offer you11:11so it may not be a bad idea to consider11:13those two at some point I mean the way11:15you think about startups versus large11:17companies in the comments below if you11:19liked the video give a like and11:20subscribe and see you next time right