As I was reading "Downsides to working at a tech giant" it occurred to me that the alternative to working for a tech giant is not necessarily a start-up: I would probably work for myself — freelance.
So, in fact the two articles can both be right. ;-)
I like being freelance but getting the motivation in those first couple of weeks was pretty hard. I also found it tougher to sell my services because I never really had to do it before. Probably some other stuff I can't think of off the top of my head? I don't think any type of work is perfect although I'd go for freelance any day of the week.