Why New Developers Should Join a Startup to Supercharge Their Career

As a new developer, you face a dizzying array of career paths. You could join a tech giant like Google and work on products used by billions. You could find a role at a large non-tech company and help craft internal tools. Or you could join a small, scrappy startup and play a vital role in building something new.

While the prestige of a big company may seem alluring, I‘m here to make the case that joining a startup is the single best way to accelerate your growth as a developer and set yourself up for an outstanding career.

At a startup, you‘ll gain a breadth of experience and depth of ownership that‘s hard to match elsewhere. You‘ll be challenged to expand your skills on a daily basis and granted the autonomy to make a major impact. And you‘ll build tight bonds with exceptional colleagues who will propel you to stretch and grow in ways you never imagined.

Startups are a Hotbed for Rapid Skill Development

The most valuable asset you have early in your career is your rate of learning. The faster you can grow your abilities and gain diverse experiences, the more you‘ll be able to accomplish down the road.

Startups provide an environment that‘s tailor-made for rapid skill acquisition. As part of a small team wearing many hats, you‘ll gain exposure to all aspects of the product development lifecycle, from ideation through delivery. What you lack in formal mentorship you‘ll more than make up for through hands-on experience.

You‘ll have the chance to experiment with new technologies and level up your abilities with each feature you ship. With a tight feedback loop of building, measuring, and learning, you‘ll quickly identify areas for improvement and develop your instincts.

The statistics bear out the immense learning opportunities that startups provide. According to a survey by Startup Institute, 94% of employees say they‘re learning skills faster at their startup job than they would have at a larger company. And research from LinkedIn shows that the learning curve is steeper at smaller companies than larger ones.

Source: Startup Institute

You‘ll Be Entrusted With Outsized Ownership

At a large tech company, new developers often start out working on a small slice of a sprawling codebase. It can take months or even years before you‘re entrusted to lead major features.

In contrast, at a startup you‘ll be granted significant ownership from day one. With a lean team, there‘s no choice but to trust new hires to take on critical work that moves the needle for the business.

Within your first weeks, you might be tasked with shipping a new onboarding flow, squeezing more performance out of a core algorithm, or defining a caching architecture to support growth. You‘ll be thrown into the deep end and forced to figure it out as you go.

This kind of autonomy is equally thrilling and terrifying. You‘ll feel a weighty sense of responsibility knowing that the code you write today could be seen by thousands of users tomorrow. But you‘ll also feel the deep satisfaction of looking at a product and seeing your fingerprints all over it.

Exposure to the Entire Business Builds T-Shaped Skills

As a developer, it‘s easy to get stuck inside the code editor, narrowly focused on fulfilling feature requirements. But at a startup, you‘ll have a front row seat to observe the broader workings of the business.

The tight-knit nature of a startup team means you‘ll work closely not only with other engineers but also with colleagues across disciplines like design, marketing, sales, and customer success. You‘ll develop customer empathy by participating in user feedback sessions, contribute to the product roadmap in sprint planning, and trade notes with the growth team on A/B test results.

This exposure to the full spectrum of company operations will help you develop T-shaped skills. You‘ll build deep expertise in your core domain of software development, while also growing your knowledge in adjacent disciplines.

That cross-disciplinary understanding will make you a more well-rounded thinker who‘s able to see the bigger picture beyond the code. You‘ll learn to consider the business impact of your technical decisions and think holistically about the tradeoffs.

Work With Cutting-Edge Technologies and Stacks

Startups are known for being on the bleeding edge of technology adoption. While large companies often stick with conservative tools and rigid processes, startups prioritize speed and flexibility, leading them to embrace newer technologies that let a small team move faster.

Today‘s startups are building on a sophisticated stack that spans everything from React and TypeScript on the frontend to Node and Go for services to Kubernetes and Terraform in infrastructure. Serverless, edge compute, and machine learning are becoming ubiquitous building blocks.

Source: StackShare

In a startup, you‘ll be among the first to gain experience with these cutting-edge technologies. You‘ll learn how to weave them together into modern architectures that enable rapid development. Working with tools at the forefront of the field will keep your skills sharp and highly marketable.

Work Alongside Passionate, Exceptional Colleagues

A mediocre team can make going to work a chore, but an incredible team makes even the biggest challenges feel surmountable and fun. At a startup, you‘ll have the chance to work alongside colleagues who are not only exceptionally talented but also incredibly motivated.

The high stakes and shared purpose of a startup act as a magnet for ambitious, entrepreneurial people eager to prove themselves. You may find yourself sitting beside former big tech engineers who want to have more impact, domain experts applying their knowledge in new ways, or fresh faces straight out of school determined to build something great.

This concentration of talent makes for an enriching work environment. You‘ll constantly be challenged by colleagues who raise the bar on what‘s possible. Late night coding sessions and spirited whiteboard debates will push you to sharpen your thinking and expand your abilities.

Launch Your Entrepreneurial Career

For aspiring entrepreneurs, a startup can be the ideal training ground. Before starting your own company, learning how successful startups operate from the inside is invaluable.

Seeing up close how the founders manage the business and make decisions under conditions of extreme uncertainty will provide crucial lessons for your own journey. Technical chops are just one piece of the puzzle – you also need to understand product strategy, user psychology, unit economics, and fundraising.

As an early employee at a startup, you‘ll not only get to witness these key aspects of company building, but also play a role in executing them. You might get pulled into a pitch meeting to describe a new feature, help craft the narrative for a fundraising deck, or join customer interviews to identify pain points.

This intimate understanding of what it takes to bring a product to market and scale a team will pay dividends if you decide to start your own company down the line. You‘ll also forge close relationships with mentors and colleagues who can support you in your future ventures.

Tips for Finding the Right Startup

While the potential for growth is immense, not all startups are created equal. When evaluating opportunities, look for companies with:

• Experienced founders with a track record of success
• A compelling mission and clear vision for the future
• Strong funding from respected investors
• Rapid growth in usage and revenue
• Positive culture that values mentorship and work/life balance

Some red flags that might indicate trouble:

• High employee turnover, especially among early team members
• Lack of product traction or difficulty raising funds
• Constantly changing strategic direction
• Toxic culture with poor communication and overworked staff

If possible, speak with current and former employees to get a sense of what it‘s really like to work there. Make sure there are senior engineering leaders invested in supporting your growth.

Succeeding as a Startup Developer

Once you‘ve landed a job at a great startup, how can you make the most of the opportunity?

First, embrace the chance to wear many hats. Volunteer for projects outside your comfort zone, and don‘t hesitate to propose ideas for improving the product or technical architecture. The more you contribute, the more you‘ll be trusted with additional responsibility.

Effective communication is essential, especially in a fast-moving startup environment. Get in the habit of writing design docs to clarify your thinking before diving into code. Participate actively in code reviews and invest in documentation to multiply your impact.

It‘s also critical to maintain a learning mindset. With so much information to absorb, you may frequently feel out of your depth. Remember that confusion is a natural part of the learning process. Don‘t be afraid to ask questions, even if they feel basic. Your teammates will appreciate your willingness to learn.

Finally, pace yourself for the startup marathon. It can be tempting to throw yourself into work completely, but burnout is a real risk. Protect your physical and mental health by sticking to sustainable work hours, taking time off to recharge, and leaning on the support of friends and family.

Propel Your Career Forward

Ultimately, your first few years as a developer set the trajectory for your career. Joining a startup gives you the chance to build an outstanding foundation by gaining diverse experience, honing your skills, and tackling major challenges.

The renowned entrepreneur and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz put it well:

"The most valuable way to look at a job when you‘re starting your career is to think about skill acquisition, because the job that will pay you the most in your career is your last job. Anytime you have an opportunity for a big step up in skill acquisition that is what you should choose."

When you optimize for learning above all else, you open doors to future opportunities you can scarcely imagine. Few paths will accelerate your growth as much as being part of a high-performing startup team.

Of course, there are tradeoffs to consider. Startups are risky bets by nature, and even the most promising ones sometimes flame out. The intensity can be draining. And the compensation, while compelling if the company succeeds, won‘t match Google or Facebook salaries out of the gate.

But if you find a mission you believe in and a team that will push you to stretch and grow, the potential upside is extraordinary. Not only will you build a deep bench of skills that will serve you well throughout your career, but you‘ll also build a tight-knit network and a set of experiences you‘ll carry with you for life.

So as you weigh your options, don‘t overlook the humble startup. It just might be the rocket ship that launches your career to new heights.