If you're fresh out of school, you get more experience in a year than that crappy little project you'll be given at a large company and be chained to for four years.
I had the opportunity to work at several start-ups (on the east coast) during the first DotCom bubble in the late 1990s/early 2000s. It was generally a good experience for several reasons. First, I didn't have a software background/degree, so it gave me a chance to cut my teeth and the learn from good mentors (perhaps I was lucky in this regard...my first employer was started by two late 30-somethings). Second, given what I was doing right out of school (running a small climbing gym), the pay, while still under market rates, was a fortune compared to what I was making.
Nearly 15 years later, I have no interest in taking another job at a start-up. I work for a fairly stable company, doing interesting work, with lots of flexibility around when and where I do that work. I do, however, appreciate the experiences I had when I was willing to take that risk.
That's quite a typical retirement/investment strategy: when you are young, you can take high risks that might pay-off in the long run and if they don't you still have time to rebuild. When you approach retirement, you should move your money into low risk investments because you will need them soon. I's the same when investing time in your career development.
I had the opportunity to work at several start-ups (on the east coast) during the first DotCom bubble in the late 1990s/early 2000s. It was generally a good experience for several reasons. First, I didn't have a software background/degree, so it gave me a chance to cut my teeth and the learn from good mentors (perhaps I was lucky in this regard...my first employer was started by two late 30-somethings). Second, given what I was doing right out of school (running a small climbing gym), the pay, while still under market rates, was a fortune compared to what I was making.
Nearly 15 years later, I have no interest in taking another job at a start-up. I work for a fairly stable company, doing interesting work, with lots of flexibility around when and where I do that work. I do, however, appreciate the experiences I had when I was willing to take that risk.