Medium fish in Big pond or small fish in small pond?
February 17, 2010 2:58 PM   Subscribe

Should I take a lower position at an up and coming high growth company or a higher position at an established company?

So I have two potential opportunities. One is at a rapidly growing start-up that plans to go public. I am not in early enough that it would make me a millionare, but maybe I could make 50K or 100K (total guesses). The company is growing quickly and could be a major player in a few years. The culture has some good start-up aspects but others not so much. Its a very "selling" culture (I do not work for sales but probably 80% of the staff is sales)...it can feel very "boiler room" sometimes. Long term however I could be one of the early employees, and it is in the tech industry. On the downside - I do not like what I am doing. I am clearly the low man on the totem pole.

On the flip side I might have the option to move to another more B2C company, that is a big regional player. It is growing but not as quickly. No stock options here. However I will be launching an entire new type of marketing for them - so its a huge opportunity to say "I started this" "My plans saved them $1 million" etc. No start-up culture. Very standard company. The position would be much more strategic than company #1.

So I lean towards option #2, as it much more puts me in charge of something, which I want. However I worry that company #1 will blow up and be huge and I will feel stupid. That being said if option #2 pays $10-$20K a year more...well it doesn't take long to make up what I *might* make with stock options.

So...which option should I take? What stories/info do you guys have that might put me at ease if I choose option #2 (the B2C, tech position in a non tech company)
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (10 answers total)
 
On the downside - I do not like what I am doing.

As long as you make enough doing what you love, it will always be a better choice than making some unneeded extra money doing what you don't want to do. Money is useful only inasmuch as it can be exchanged for things that help us be happy. If you can be happier at your job, that's worth a lot of money.
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:05 PM on February 17, 2010 [3 favorites]


I agree with Tomorrowful. Go with the job that you will like doing. Better for You in the long run.
posted by majortom1981 at 3:07 PM on February 17, 2010


First off, it sounds like you could get a closer range of what each will pay you... 50k to 100k is an incredibly large range, what would you be starting at?

Also, if you're in a job that you don't like in a company that has the possibility of 'blowing up', then you have a good chance to be in a very well-paying job you don't like.
posted by tmcw at 3:07 PM on February 17, 2010


Just because there are plans to go public doesn't mean the company will go public. Don't assume you will make money from an IPO.
posted by dfriedman at 3:08 PM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]


I vote option #2.

It's better to miss out on "maybe 50-100K" than to miss out on a good job with an established company. Don't consider stock options as compensation when negotiating or making employment decisions unless you have a deep belief in the concept and management of the startup.

Even if the position weren't as strong with the larger company, I would still think this sounded like the better option. It sounds like the flip side scenario offers you a lot, including respect and room for achievement, whereas the startup is a place where you don't like what you're doing and you don't feel respected.

I suspect I am not the only one here who will fail to see why this is a hard decision for you.
posted by doteatop at 3:09 PM on February 17, 2010


Remember that start-ups can fail. If you think you'd like the big company job better anyway, why take the risk and the stress?
posted by dilettante at 3:10 PM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]


You might feel a little bit like you missed out if the company blows up; however, won't you feel stupid taking a lower-paying job you don't like as much when the startup fails and you had a better opportunity up front?
posted by shownomercy at 3:11 PM on February 17, 2010


I have worked at several companies that "planned" to go public. They didn't.

My experience has been nothing beats agency in a job. Take the job that gives you the most control and is the most interesting.

If you want to do a startup, good for you -- but it's generally just not worth it unless you're the founder or an early employee, and even then the odds are very much against you.
posted by bitterpants at 3:11 PM on February 17, 2010


If you go with the more standard position, you'll have a better launching off point for your career than being in the right place at the right time to get some great stock options. When you figure in the amount of time you will spend doing something you don't actually like doing the chunk of money isn't actually as big as it might seem even if you were 100% going to get it. (I know a lot of people who worked in start-up companies only very, very few ever really made any money off of it.)

It sounds like you already know what you want to do though, and I say go for it. You will always do better if you make decisions based on what makes you happy and feel passionate than if you make a decision based on fear (of regret in this case). Moving on and up will make you a lot happier than staying put just in case. Also, you have total control how you react if the other company goes big. You can either feel stupid that you didn't get your hands on the money when you had a chance, or you can feel really smart that you moved on to something that pays more (and will ultimately pay more over time) and that you actually like doing.
posted by Kimberly at 3:14 PM on February 17, 2010


The choice is so clearly #2 here that I am surprised that you didn't realize that yourself halfway through typing up your question. Between the lines, it sounds like you know this already.
posted by rokusan at 10:39 PM on February 17, 2010


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