Big Corporations vs. Startups

April 5, 2009 · 2 Comments

When considering where to take a job, we often need to think about the company culture. By determining whether the organization is a big corporation or startup, you can learn a lot about the company. Below outlines the various pros & cons for working for the individual entities.

Corporation

Pros
» More stability
» Clearer processes
» Costs and sales are fairly predictable

Cons
» Less challenging
» New processes are slow to develop
» More long-term goal oriented

Startup

Pros
» Quicker career advancement
» Potential to determine career path
» More flexibility with time
» Learn many skills
» Focus on a niche market

Cons
» Disorganized
» May require more overtime
» Redoing work to refine the process
» More reactive, fast-paced decision-making
» Decisions often dictated by one or two people

After reading this list, which type of company would you want to work for and why?

Inspired by @darrenbuckner

Categories: Managing
Tagged: advancement, career, challenge, company, cons, corporation, costs, cymberly, cymberly pierce, decision, disorganized, flexibility, goal, job, market, niche, organization, overtime, predictable, processes, pros, reactive, Sales, skills, stability, start up, startup, work

2 responses so far ↓

Big Corporations vs. Startups // April 5, 2009 at 11:29 pm

[...] Original post by Clever Title [...]
Darren Buckner // April 6, 2009 at 1:57 am

As a software developer that has works for both startups and biggies I think one significant difference is the core commitment to innovation and technological advances.

The smaller more dynamic teams of a typical startup focus more heavily on innovation in technology and ideology. Always trying to carve out their market niche, the passion to create a better product or service thrives.

When working in an established market for a larger corporation the focus is often on staying the course and optimizing core revenue. Rocking the boat can mean missing the numbers and missing the numbers can mean loss in future revenue.

Biggies are often like a large ship moving steadily on a charted course. Startups often rely on fast moving, agile craft that move swiftly in the pursuit of open waters.

Each has it’s pros and cons as you have eluded to.

I wonder what type of talent each entity attracts and for what reasons? How likely are they to retain that talent, respectively?

Thanks for the post!

Clever Title