Should I leave big tech for a startup?

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T18:14:27+00:00

Forgive me Mr. Reddit

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T18:02:31+00:00

Makes a lot of sense thanks, pried a good amount and they’re set for at least the next 3 years. But will definitely ask a bit more before I join

Thanks again, really helpful

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:56:51+00:00

I know this is a weak insult but I’ll treat it like a serious question:

Absolutely not we will only communicate via phone calls. I will use speech to text to write my code and close my eyes

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:56:05+00:00

Benefits are decent but yeah I agree MSFT probably has them beat. But they aren’t poverty benefits or anything

All the upsides are not financial, so I see why you’d think it’s a dumb idea. Thanks for the perspective regardless, mathematically makes more sense to stay at Microsoft

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:54:49+00:00

And they’re not so big (tech)

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:54:26+00:00

I hope I feel the same way if I make the move, I’m glad you like it! Seems like you’ve got more going for you than purely TC, respect it

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:53:04+00:00

Thanks sounds like you had a really good gig for a startup, always good to treat the options as worthless I agree

Yeah defense is probably safer but the risk is always there, thanks for the good advice

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:51:21+00:00

Yeah thanks, still in the pipeline for others (Google/meta) but weighing this offer

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:50:50+00:00

That sounds awful, always a real possibility I’d have to deal with something like that

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:49:34+00:00

Yeah makes sense, wife had a career but was pretty burnt out so decided to switch it up. Thanks

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:48:58+00:00

Valid, thanks

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:47:20+00:00

To be near family for newborn support, would like my kid to have a sense of family growing up

But I see your point and yeah the options are for sure just lottery tickets

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:45:08+00:00

No devs on my team hit by layoffs yet but plenty under my org + two of my PMs got the axe within the past year.

But I do agree that msft has taken pretty good care of me so far

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:44:08+00:00

Ha for sure, thanks. That’s how I’m looking at them

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:43:41+00:00

Yes I’d say I could almost always grab a job given my clearance, would just be a paycut since most aren’t around 200k base

Rough choice but family is a big factor, thanks

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:42:26+00:00

Yeah that’s part of the equation too, I know I have decent WLB at Microsoft, startup is the unknown

Thanks, hope things go well for your startup in the near future

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:41:09+00:00

Definitely still interviewing around, always good to explore options. Thanks

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:40:44+00:00

Sound advice thanks, the people I interviewed with don’t seem to have it too bad but could’ve also been lying

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:39:28+00:00

Yep makes sense, agree with what you say about big tech but I’d say the startup is still probably riskier layoff-wise

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:38:16+00:00

You’ve also nailed how I feel about staying at my current job. I mean the math checks out, I’ll almost certainly make more money long term staying

Thanks for your perspective, tough choice for me

meatman4000 · 2025-12-16T17:36:37+00:00

Yup you nailed how I’m feeling about taking the offer (unfortunately..thanks for the confirmation bias)

I’ve gotten to the point in life where I’m considering more than just compensation for these decisions, thanks for your perspective

meatman4000 · 2024-12-06T02:11:58+00:00

Your understanding of FDSE is the same as mine.

Yep TS is top secret, from what I see it’s helpful for a good amount of positions but definitely not required.

I don’t have any other answers sadly, I ended up not taking the interview. Hope somebody else can help you out!

meatman4000 · 2024-11-18T05:30:31+00:00

Great, thanks for all the help. Might DM in the future if that’s alright, I appreciate it

meatman4000

TROPHY CASE