1. Wearing Many Hats – At a startup, you don’t get to just stick to one role. You might be hired as a backend engineer, but you’ll probably end up doing some frontend work, web development, and even designing graphics. Since the team is small, everyone has to pitch in wherever they’re needed. When I worked at Superluminal, we had only eight people, so there was always a ton to do, and I had to learn to switch between different tasks fast.
2. Learning at Lightning Speed – You pick up new skills way faster in a startup. There’s no time to overthink things—you just dive in and figure stuff out as you go. Whether it’s debugging an issue or learning a new framework overnight, you get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It can feel chaotic, but you end up gaining way more experience in a short amount of time.
3. Seeing Your Work in Action – Whatever you build in a startup gets used by customers almost immediately. There’s no waiting around for approvals from ten different teams—if you make a change, people will notice. It’s really satisfying (and sometimes nerve-wracking) to see your work making a direct impact right away.
4. Talking to Customers – Unlike corporate jobs, where you might never meet the people using your product, startups put you in direct contact with customers. You hear their feedback firsthand, which helps you improve the product. It’s also a great way to understand what really matters to users instead of just guessing from behind a screen.
5. Risk – There is a risk working for a startup. One day you could be working and the next the company ceases to exist. Sometimes, there are tough calls and situations you have to address when working in such a place.
6. Early in career - In my opinion working in a start up early in your career is the perfect time to try out and see how the startup culture is like. The big tech companies will always be there and they will always have positions ready. But, a startup is unique and each has their own way of working and can be hub for innovations and ideas.
1. Working with Large-Scale Systems – Big companies have well-established systems and processes, so you get to work on things that have been built up over years. You also get access to really experienced engineers who know these systems inside and out. It’s a great way to learn how things work at scale and understand best practices for writing clean, maintainable code.
2. Easy Access to Mentors – One of the biggest perks of working in a corporation is having senior engineers around who can guide you. You can grab lunch with them, ask for career advice, and learn from their experience. This kind of mentorship can make a huge difference in your growth as a developer.
3. More People to Rely On – In a corporate setting, you’re usually part of a bigger team, so you don’t have to figure everything out by yourself. If you run into a tough problem, there’s a good chance someone else has already solved something similar and can help you out. In a startup, you might be the only person working on a certain issue, which can be exciting but also overwhelming.
4. Larger Audience - When you have an idea and you get the time to build it, there is a large audience that you can show your idea to. Your coworkers, especially if you are new, have a lot more experience than you can give you guidance on your idea and really help shape it.
1. Focus on Key Resources – There are tons of interview prep materials out there, but you don’t need to go overboard. LeetCode 75 and System Design Interview by Alex Xu are usually enough to prepare well. Over the years, I have combed through many resources and tried reading through them. In the end, it was pretty much redundant. In addition, too many resources can get overwhelming, so it’s better to focus on a few and really understand them.
2. Don’t Just Memorize Solutions – A big mistake people make is memorizing algorithms instead of understanding them. They try to memorize all possible solutions a company might possibly give them. Interviewers can tell when someone is just reciting an answer instead of actually solving the problem. Instead, focus on why an algorithm works, when to use it, and what alternatives might be better. Instead of doing a breadth search to see all possible problems a company might ask, do a more in depth search to understand what the problem is asking and how your own solution works. Yes, understanding fundamentals such as data structures and run times is important to keep in mind, but you need to be able to explain the question: why?
3. Expect Follow-Up Questions – Interviews aren’t just about writing code—they test how you think. Be ready for questions like, “Why did you pick this data structure?” or “How would your solution change with a different input size?”. Thinking beyond the basic solution makes a big difference.
4. Practice Talking Out Loud – In an interview, explaining your thought process is just as important as solving the problem. If you’re not used to it, it can feel awkward at first, but practicing out loud (even to yourself) helps a lot. The goal is to make sure you can clearly communicate your ideas without freezing up.
5. Simulate Real Interviews – Practicing in a stress-free environment is one thing, but real interviews come with pressure. Try mock interviews, time yourself, or even use your friends as an interviewer. Even if they are not familiar with CS, you can still use your friends as a way to explain your solution to them. It’s even better, in my opinion, if you can explain an algorithm to a non-cs professional compared to a cs-professional. The more you simulate the actual experience, the more confident you’ll feel.
6. Treat It Like a Class – Interview prep isn’t something you cram last minute—it’s a skill you build over time. Set a schedule, track your progress, and review your mistakes to get better. The more structured you are, the easier it gets, and soon, technical interviews won’t feel so intimidating.