Hustle vs Stability? What to choose?
I’m 27 and have been working with startups for majority of my career now( total 4.5 years)
I have two options and I can’t decide what to do?
Option 1: startup in growth phase (media services company)
- willing to pay more (currently at 18LPA)
- no operations and systems in place and salary gets delayed every month
- work is satisfying and I have a great manager to work with
- comfortable working hours nobody really troubles or micro manages
- have finished 10 months in this company now
Option 2: MNC data services management consulting
- 19lpa ctc (fixed 17.2)
- has processes and systems in place
- has Fortune 500 clients
- has a team
- not sure about work yet
- hybrid work mode
- Has brand value
Any thoughts on what I should do?
Talking product sense with Ridhi
9 min AI interview5 questions
Stability of what?
Hustle and Stability can go hand-in-hand if you just prepare your day accordingly.
Hustle as much as you can, till you can. Early learnings are always better. They'll reflect in your earnings later and make your life easier later.
If you go to an MNC now and wonder what to do even in those precious 9 hours of your day where you're away from friends & family, then there's no point of stability. MNCs where things are already set - might not give you enough opportunities to fail & learn.
Agreed!!
3rd option - 5 yrs already within industry and within startup ecosystem, these 5 yrs are like goldmine according to me, you can start on your own.
You have the industry exposure, you can address the business gap evidently, you are surrounded by enough jenious minds within the startup ecosystem and you can team up with them to address the business gap.
Sound's too naive but working with startups is where real growth at individual level takes place - new perspectives and new mindset builds!
Go with the 3rd option - Startup
Stability of income, growth and learning opportunities. The startup I’m working with does not release salary on time I get my money by 10th or 15th of each month. And I’m not feeling motivated to work like this.
Search for a 3rd option. MNC is low balling.
I thought of this too but I don’t know if I have the luxury of time to wait without having a job lined up
Go with MNC; with your experience, startups always accept you with open arms, so you can work with startups whenever you feel like you need the change; moreover, startups' bad management could impact your mental health too, and delay in salary is a negative sign. Considering the market MNCs are a safe bet.
Honest question - Amazon/Google are MNCs with systems in place but are they stable jobs in 2024? Answer this question and you'll be able to brush off your illusions of "stability at MNC".
This is a great question and I see what you’re pointing at but again, startup experience has not been great with me so far! Even with famous brands in the web3 space.
go for the mnc better to join startup if you are getting a management level role where most of your time would go in meetings it will be still be a hustle but still better than getting crunched daily as an IC. Utilize the stability provided by MNC really well, if you feel work is not challenging then go build some open source software, if the pay is issue then explore other channels of making income (not suggesting moonlighting of course).
This totally makes sense. thanks for responding!
Ok so here's my opinion based on personal experience.
If any of your family is not dependent on you immediately then startup is a way to go.
It will give you the means and tools to learn rapidly and increase your earning exponentially.
However, if you are need to stable income based on dependencies like EMIs or loans then MNC could be a better option.
I do have the latter
One more condition here.
I too started with an early stage startup recently. And have home loans.
But my wife also earns so I have the cushion to search for a new job if anything happens with the startup
So it's always about an individual and their choices.
In the end you'll to make the decision on your own.
As evedent from all the conflicting views in the post.
If the MNC is like ZS Associates, then you won't have to worry about learning since it will be plenty but it will come at the cost of poor WLB
That’s what I’ve heard, but that’s won’t be the case all the time from what I got to know from people who are working there for the last 2 to 4 years
Yeah it's not all the time, but also things are team dependent too. Eventually everyone gets used to this type of working (in my case).
Always and always choose option 1 at this level.
Your first 8 years of work should be in choosing hustle. Plus you have a good manager here
Post 8 or 10 years you can join a mnc where you get stability but it comes with working really dumb people, delayed processes , less ownership and building average products hence.
Even if salaries are delayed? If you don’t get paid on time how are you able to manage your life outside work, especially when you’re the sole breadwinner of the family and you need a stable income?
The person here is 27 years old. I assumed he or she is single and not a single breadwinner of a family.
I also assumed at current 18 lax lpa he or she has some savings.
Salary getting delayed is subjective. 4 5 days of delay should be ok as long as it gets credited in full. Author also mentioned it's a growth oriented company so I am assuming as it grows, salary part will be taken care.
Facing similar issue as like you! Its been 4.5 years since i started working in a startup. The work is not as challenging as i want it to be! As its still in a growing phase, our cliental base is very less!! Im very confused/ concerned about my career's future aspect
I get it but with what I’ve realised so far is that chasing CTC is not always cool. Ofcourse it comes with a price and if you really need the money to sustain your family and living expenses, do it. But nothing apart from a life or death situation is worth it. I honestly don’t know either but I’m clear to at I need to build better networks, skills and explore more.
I hope this helps