While there is more room at the bottom, the downside to that is that there is more skills saturation at the bottom. So I'm looking for advice that is more supportive of my goals to be a more competitive programmer and in-demand by more reputable software companies. I would love to work at a company like NVidia or Intel. I'd be in a better position to find work even if I get laid off from Intel vs. getting laid off at a mom & pop web company. My resume would look better.

I'm also not interested in starting my own business. The typical "startup scene" outcome for a typical person is to be in your 30's with 5 short-term jobs and zero net worth. I don't feel like I make a big impact in small companies either.