# Working in startup v/s corporates - 1

I have been working in a service startup for about an year now and now I'll soon be join fidelity investments as a summer intern. I was very curious on how it would be to move from a chill but a busy environment to a very strictly monitored one. I'll be writing this blog in 2 parts, this one is about startup experience and next one will come after the internship about corporate

## Let me paint a picture for you

The startup I work at is an App studio, i.e, a company building software for contracts. Here we have a small team so the pressure is always high and it's really really fun. Especially it being a startup we get days where we have no work and then we get days where we sit to work at 12PM and might not be done till 3-4AM.

### Pros

1. **It's a unique experience**, where big corporates might have skateboards in hallway and a bunch of gaming and retreat solutions these startups have a completely different feel, a small office space with plastic toys and random stuff as decorations.

2. **YOU LEARN A LOT**, I mean a hell lot when I say a lot. So I joined in Feb 2020, with basic HTML, CSS, and Js knowledge within a month I was proficient with Vue.js and was working on a production level App. Fast forward a few months and I made my first PR into a backend repo. A few more months and I am now in a client meet demoing the app. Now after a year and a half I frequently make PRs to frontend, backend, native apps. I end up taking a lot of clients meets also managing the cloud infrastructure.

3. **Employees work without supervision**, in a startup since the team is small you end up working not very down the ladder. The supervision I have is an Aasna table and code review for my PRs.

4. **You can innovate**, you get a lot of creative freedom in a startup. Not only in terms of a solution to the given problem but also the core product itself.

5. **Perks**, 
    - flexible working hours
    - working from home
    - shorter work weeks
    - a casual atmosphere

### Cons

1. **The workload is heavy,** Expect to work long hours, with few holidays and vacations.
2. **What social life?** You might have fun at the office, but you work hard too. Employees work under extreme pressure to avoid losses, so don't count on having much of social life. Work-life balance is tough, and exhaustive hours at the office can take a toll.
3. Not in my case (intern) but for a full timer **job security** might be a huge concern while planning to work in a startup. 

    > Research by UC Berkeley & Stanford and other contributors suggests that over 90%              of startups fail within their first three years! Tech startups, in particular, face the threat of technological advancements and new inventions wiping out their business.

## Conclusion

Overall my experience over at a startup has been super fun and a great boost to my knowledge and hopefully career. Soon i'll have a follow up taking about corporate work culture my experience and a simple comparison.