I'm a SWE working at one of the big tech co. and I'm based in London. It's possibly the same in SV, but in London the amount of money you earn at big tech co is easily 2x if it's not 3x in comparison to startups and 99% of those don't even do exit / IPO so even the little stock option they give is meaningless.

To be able to afford some pretty normal things like 3 bed flat or ok-ish car, I have to work at FAANG or Hedge fund. That said recently I started finding it hard to convince myself in mission and the way those companies work. For the one I'm working and I can potentially move .

Like,

- Is Twitter really a good place for having conversation? Is it ever going to grow from where it has been for the last 5 years?

- Does Facebook's mission make sense anymore? With Apple changes and more to come, is their business model still ok?

- Although the company do well, do I want to join to a company which is well known with its PIP culture? (Amazon)

- Do I really want to put all my identity aside and join Apple and don't do anything other than Apple? (They are way to strict on this side project thing)

- Is it possible to develop a product in Google, that's not boring? Also is "Don't be evil" still one of the company values of Google?

So on and so fort. Endless things that definitely leaves sour taste in the mouth.

Since those companies under the spotlight I also noticed that even following the news about your company becomes tiring after some time.

How do you feel? Maybe I'm putting too much meaning into this work thing.