How did you rule out startups?
I'm interviewing with some startups right now, found this site helpful for anyone in the same boat: https://topstartups.io/
I'm interviewing with some startups right now, found this site helpful for anyone in the same boat: https://topstartups.io/
While I loved my startup time, learned so much doing it, and wouldn't change anything about it, at this point in my life with a mortgage and teenager, I'd realistically need a startup to be able to at least 10-20x for the risk to be worth the opportunity cost of missing $BIGCO$ salary.
That's risk. The difference is that you're comfortable with the risk, but it is risk.
There is risk with all jobs but how many mass layoffs of eng have FAANG companies done in the last ten years? How many start ups have shut down in the last 10 years?
It might have found funding before fit, leading to the market never materializing. The leaders may not have enough experience to see the path before them while at the same time the VCs push for high-risk moves to drive their returns instead of making moves to ensure business stability.
Fundamentally, startups do not share the goal of a long-term sustainable growth pattern. They shoot for the stars, and either make it or crash.
Here's my other buffer against job loss: I consult in between jobs, sometimes for years. In fact I think of it the other way: I'm a consultant that occasionally takes a job for variety.