Career Paths in Web3: Startup vs Corporate

I’ve worked at a massive corporation, a mid-size software company, and now run my own startup. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫: Haha, psyche! Obviously no one can answer this for you. But you should ask yourself what you actually value rather than just make a decision based off of emotion (or worse, a LinkedIn post). D̳o̳ ̳y̳o̳u̳ ̳v̳a̳l̳u̳e̳ 👉 Being well-paid 👉 Earning well-known logos on your resume 👉 Learning as much as possible 👉 Doing interesting, high-ownership work 👉 Internal mobility and promotion paths 👉 Growth as a skilled professional 👉 Future exit potential (equity upside) 👉 Work-life balance 👉 A flat structure vs. a layered hierarchy H̳e̳r̳e̳’̳s̳ ̳h̳o̳w̳ ̳t̳h̳e̳ ̳e̳n̳v̳i̳r̳o̳n̳m̳e̳n̳t̳s̳ ̳c̳o̳m̳p̳a̳r̳e̳ 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 💥 Strong compensation and stability 💥 Recognized logos on your resume 💥 Very focused learning which helps you land another similar role 💥 Clear structure and benefits - Siloed roles with limited exposure - Slower pace, less ownership - No real exit potential 𝐌𝐢𝐝-𝐒𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬: 💥 More flexibility and cross-functional exposure 💥 Still offer brand recognition and decent comp 💥 Sometimes a better balance of structure and agility - Growth can stall depending on leadership - Can be stuck in the middle with the worst of both worlds 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬: 💥 Huge learning curve 💥 High ownership and impact 💥 Fast pace, fast feedback 💥 Equity upside (depends on the company and when you joined) - High risk and volatility - Often lower pay, longer hours - Work-life balance can take a hit (depends on leadership and how much they value your personal time) And then there’s entrepreneurship. Influencers love to shout “Leave big corp and build your own thing!” But here’s the truth: 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚. Years of work, stress, capital, and risk… and most walk away with nothing. The key is understanding what you value, not what sounds cool, not what your friends are doing, and definitely not what’s trending on LinkedIn. So…which way are you going to go (or what did you choose)?

I've spent most of my career in corporate, and about a decade in startups. In corporate, people are impressed at parties when they hear where you work. There are many geniuses, but also a lot of folks just there for the money. The benefits are great, and the stock options are more important than the salary. There are a lot of weird political dynamics, and you'll meet people for whom status is far more important than the product you're building. You'll waste a lot of time on meaningless work and occasionally do something that matters. In startups, everyone around you is pulling their weight. People are betting their well-being on the product, and there is a level of intensity you simply cannot get in an insular bureaucracy. You'll often get tasks you're not qualified for, and you will grow like crazy as you somehow pull it off. Everything will matter. Everyone should do both. People should work at major corporations to be treated well and have their worth recognized. And they should work at startups to do good work. People with startup experience do very well at corporations because they've been trained by reality to do what matters.

Should you join a startup or a big company? Wrong question. The right question: "What am I optimizing for right now?" Because the trade-offs are brutal: STARTUP: ✓ Huge scope (you'll touch everything) ✓ Fast growth (if it works) ✓ Equity upside (maybe) ✗ Chaos (always) ✗ No process (you build it) ✗ High failure rate (most startups die) BIG COMPANY: ✓ Structure and resources ✓ Clear career ladder ✓ Stability and benefits ✗ Narrow scope (6 months on one button) ✗ Slow growth ✗ Politics at every level Neither is "better." Both are trade-offs. I coached a UXer who left Google for a Series A startup. Two years later: → Learned 5x more than she would have at Google → Ran a team of 8 (would've taken 5 years at Google) → Startup got acquired → Made $400K from equity Amazing, right? But here's what I don't tell you: I also coached someone who made the same move. Startup ran out of money in 18 months. He was unemployed for 6 months looking for work. Set his career back 2 years. Same decision. Different outcome. The question isn't startup vs big company. The question is: "Can I afford the downside risk right now?" → Early career? Take the risk. → Supporting a family? Maybe not. → Need to build foundational skills? Big company. → Ready to bet on yourself? Startup. I wrote about the 3-year career decision most UXers face. If you're considering a move (either direction), read this first. Link in the comments 👇 #CareerDecisions #StartupLife #UXCareers