You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss

Foud this artical You Weren't Meant to Have a Boss accidentally at EconLog. It talked about the differences between programmers working at large companies and those working at start-ups (or even working for their own start-ups). The freedom one can enjoy at start-ups and the risk-taking culture often propels one to learn and grow at a faster pace compared with those working at larger companies.

Even though the article discussed software programmers, I found it to be very relevant to even hardware engineers as well. Having worked at start-ups for seven years before moving to Marvell, I felt that the difference is quite astounding. The group that I belong to actually is a pretty new one (only founded in Feb 2006), and most of the team members, including the department head and key managers, came from other start-ups. We also get to work on brand-new projects, rather than feature improvements or cost-down versions of some tired old stuff. However, in order for the team to blend in with the rest of the company, and in order for a larger team to move forward in a cohesive manner, many restrictions and guidelines were implemented that I found to be suffocating and counter-productive.

I found myself to still long for the days of working at a start-up. Hopefully my own, but it doesn't really matter. Engineering is a boring profession unless one is allowed to put the creativity to good use. Otherwise it's no different from an auto mechanics...