TECH CAREERS

Understanding the Tech Landscape

Types of Companies

1. Public, huge (e.g., Google, with 100,000+ employees)

1. You have the opportunity to learn a lot from experienced people

2. There are systems, processes, and “guard rails” to guide you

3. Big companies can pay a lot, not always the top end

4. Generally good job security, though that’s not a guarantee in 2022+

5. You may be working on a small feature (e.g., where a button is placed)

6. Your work may be touched by billions of people. Wow!

1. Placing that button well may result in millions of dollars of revenue

7. The mission may not be cool

8. The perks (free food, bring your dog to work) may be very cool

9. Best work life balance

2. Public, small (e.g., Palantir has < 4000 employees)

1. Not as chaotic as startups, still have systems in place

2. Your work will matter, it will move the company

3. Private

1. Late stage (Series D, E, F, +)

1. Your work will matter, it will be felt

2. Financially can still be risky

3. IPO is not guaranteed like the 2020/2021 heyday

2. Growth stage (Series B, C)

1. Your work will matter, it will move the company

2. If you’re good, you’ll get more responsibility quickly

3. Lots of learning by doing

4. Higher financial risk, greater return

5. Tooling / processes will not be as good

6. More work than life in work life balance

3. Early stage (seed, series A)

1. Your work will determine if the company fails or succeeds

2. If you do good, lots of chances for growth

3. Very risky, may not have a good financial outcome but you may 10x, 100x your equity

4. Tons of learning by doing, but you’ll be doing everything (not just SWE, PM, etc)

5. Tooling /processes will not be nonexistent

6. Often require substantial time commitments with poor work-life balance