Corporate vs Startup — Which Culture is Better for You?

Choosing a major in college can be a tricky decision. There are many factors to consider:

• What do you enjoy?
• What do you find to be fulfilling?
• What type of environment do you see yourself working in?
• What financial situation would you like to find yourself in five to ten years from now?
• Is this a career that the market demands? (How hard will it be to find a job after you get the actual degree?)

These are all questions that every student has when going into college.

Thinking of a career can be a daunting task, as many see it as a choice they will be stuck with for the rest of their life. The hard part is choosing your career.

The next part is even harder. Choosing the right company culture. Your job’s environment can make or break the way you feel about getting up every morning for work. Do you have a toxic relationship with the snooze button, or do you wake up ready for the day ahead of you? (Yes, the latter is possible!)

Post covid America is one that demands more from employers. Higher wages, more flexibility, less micromanaging. Life is short, don’t waste your life in an environment you don’t like.

Corporate Life

There are many pros and cons to working for a large company. When thinking of “corporate life”, the image of sitting in a cubical staring at a screen from 9 AM to 5 PM probably comes to mind. For many, it’s is not far from the truth.

Expert in One Area

Working in a large company allows people to develop something known as “T-shaped” skills. Corporate Finance Institute refers to these skills as being an expert in an area. When working at a corporation, it is not often that you will be working outside of topics in your job description. This allows you to become an “expert” in whatever field you are being paid to work in.

Structured Environment

It is certainly reassuring to know that you will be provided a structured set of training and skills for your job. However, for many, this is not fulfilling long term. Being an expert in one area may sound nice, but it can become boring and make your daily tasks feel tedious.

When choosing to work at a corporation, the tipping point to accepting that job offer is usually because of the stability that the company will seemingly provide. This can be a deceptive subject, though.

It can actually be risky to be a long-time employee of a large company. This can be seen in many ways that are not often talked about.

Staying Stagnant

If the company falls under, you need to look for a new job. If you have worked at one company for a long time, you have become an expert in the area that you worked in. However, by doing this, you have not spent time developing a diverse set of skills or projects. This doesn’t look good to future employers and may put you in a difficult spot in the long run.

Same Thing Everyday

It can be hard to have any creative freedom or sense of pride in the code you create. Matthew Meyers, a full-stack engineer at Tandem, has been a developer for almost 25 years.

“All my life I’ve been working in corporate America. In my experience, there are so many layers between the people making decisions and the people doing the work.” He mentions how it can be draining over time having a “product owner” tell developers what to write, feeling as though the code that so much time is being spent writing has no impact.

Although it is accurate that working in a large company provides structure to one’s day-to-day tasks, but be cautious to not let it become repetitive and boring. It is important to find a balance between structure and fulfillment, especially because we spend the majority of our life working in a career. Get paid to do something that you enjoy and feel connected to.

Pros:

• Traditional
• One area of expertise
• Structured Environment
• Steady Pay

Cons:

• Traditional
• Tedious
• Unfulfilling
• Risky

Startup Life

Working in a startup can be a dream or nightmare depending on your experience and preconceived notions. Just like working in a corporate environment, startups have pros and cons too. When working at a startup, it’s important to evaluate the company’s mission, values, and market before deciding if you want to commit.

Financially Risky?

It can be argued either way that working in a startup is financially risky. For starters, larger businesses tend to be able to offer a larger salary upfront. This is simply because they are bringing in more revenue than most startups.

However, if something happens to the economy or business that is detrimental to their budget, that salary could be taken away from you in an instant. Most startups fundraise to investors, for example, and set their budget. If something like a global pandemic, for example, was to occur, startups have the necessary funding to hold on to their employees even if they are not actively making revenue. Your salary at a startup is guaranteed what you were promised.

Working in a startup often allows employees to opt-in for equity. This is a great opportunity for employers if a startup offers it. According to Getting Start-up Equity? Everything you Need to Know, over time, the employees that are at a company for its early stages have a stake in the company. Different companies offer different options, but not all startups offer equity to their employees.

Fulfillment at Work

One of the greatest reasons to join a startup over a large company is the fulfillment you will receive. For example, Matt explains at Tandem, how there is a sense of ownership over the work that is done. Often, working at a startup forces employees to develop not only professional goals but also personal goals.

For Matt, the transition from 18 years at a corporation to a startup was more frictionless than he could’ve imagined. “I only knew one thing, and that was corporate life,” he explains. So it may be a shock that he has enjoyed working at a startup so much.

Like Matt, working at a startup is something most people don’t see themselves doing, especially long term. However, when you realize that days don’t feel as long or waiting for five o’clock is a thing of the past, working at a startup isn’t so bad.

When a job becomes exciting and employees feel like they have ownership over their work, their career is more fulfilling. When one’s career is more fulfilling, his or her life is more fulfilling. Fulfillment at work is something that many people underestimate the importance of. The amount of time spent in one’s career has a serious impact on the time spent outside of his career.

What’s the Verdict?

In all honesty, working in either environment has its ups and downs. In a larger company, you can expect to see more structure and hand-holding. At a startup, you can expect more autonomy and flexibility.

Whatever environment you choose to work in, remember that you spend the majority of your life in your career. If you don’t feel satisfied with your professional life, you likely won’t feel satisfied with your personal life.

If you’re on the fence about joining a startup, take the leap. You may find out that it isn’t as risky as you thought. Always remember that you can always go back to a cubical, but you can’t go back to a multi-million or billion-dollar company’s developmental stage.