A quick read on the impact of company style on personal growth.
It has occurred to me, that a startup offers specific growth options. You get thrown into a lot of situations you don’t necessarily know how to solve or handle, and you learn that. You get confronted with a whole lot of uncertainty, and unclear pathways, and you also get better a navigating those. If there is a way to solve a problem in a given amount of time, you have to find it, and you usually do.
There is a whole lot to learn from working in the startup format.
What has been new to me, is that a startup also lacks in requiring certain skills from you, which may be good for your growth at a certain time.
A startup can generally make you quick, concise, innovative and truly outcome-oriented. Especially working in a younger team of not too many seniors will enhance your judgement by a lot, and really challenge your knowledge of the reasoning behind the best practices you might have taken for granted.
Opposed to the startup format I see the format of the established company.
Which company format should be the first one for an early career to best promote growth?
A startup clearly limits certain growth capabilities. Not being around too many seniors and established processes means mistakes. Lots of them. A whole lot of them without somebody to call you out for them, and without the time to fix all the damage they might have done.
An established company is great at teaching you processes and how they can work for you. To work and improve on those processes, and to not blame people. Something that can easily get lost in the heat of the battle of small startups. It enforces best practices on to you, most of them you don’t fully understand, but you just do. If you don’t, the senior will give you a grumpy look.
You are surrounded by things that work well, that are designed well and run smoothly.
A great atmosphere for growth, in a way that gives you stability and guidance.
Obviously the established company also lacks certain growth opportunities. Extreme outcome orientation is often lacking. Innovation can become really complicated or is not really looked for. A lot of decisions may be made for you, so you don’t really have to think, and know the subject inside-out. You can rely on the knowledge of your team, the leadership and the history of your department… If that is of a sufficient quality, of course.
In my past the leaders I’ve met that have been good for me and my colleagues in other teams, and have gently guided us to success where more often found in the established company. In a startup you may easily encounter a boss who is happy to burn you out when needed.
Now both formats have natural opportunities and practical limitations. Neither of them should be missed.
But which of them should be first, and which one next, and in which order?
In terms of guidance and establishing an engineering baseline I definitely recommend starting in an established company, even if this may mean that you’re in an non innovative company while you are at the height of your own energy during your work life. This energy and motivation will anyways find expression, even in harsh conditions.
Also I recommend to go for the startup next, to improve those other skills which most likely haven’t been demanded from you at all. You may have stumbled across them, may have cultivated them through great mentoring or your own seeking, but in the given company format it is generally unlikely.
Now given the growth limitations of the startup it may again make sense to go back to the established company after some time. At best your skills grow in a balanced way, so you can eventually become the powerhouse, that can move everything.
Good luck.