Ask HN :Join a Startup vs Amazon in India?

Even after you move to SV you'll still be on a H1B and so cant really start your own company till you get a GC. that will take you 5 years if everything goes well. (There are ways to start a company on a H1 but none in a way that allow you to have optimal control of the company.)

I'm from India and I just recently quit to start on my own. I'm 33 - I got my GC 1 year ago.

My sincere advice: Stay in India.

India is going to hit the point where everyone starts doing things on the internet. Its very nearly there. But when it explodes, there will be tons of of money to be made. You will be sitting on huge numbers of people just learning to use the internet for their daily lives.

And I would definitely advise you to join the startup. You will learn nothing but tech from Amazon. I would even take a paycut if you can ask for some non-tech responsibility in the startup, ie on the business side. You need to understand how the deals are made - even more so because your dealing in India.

Stay in India and learn how to start your own business - catch the upcoming internet wave. You are positioned perfectly to ride this out and make millions. I'm serious about this.

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.

My instinct wants to me to join the startup but I am a little hesitant to miss out on having Amazon on my resume and the opportunity to get to SV, since it has been echoed many times here that SV is the best place to be if you want to start on your own.

But your post has given me, if I can say so, courage to just go with the first option.

Being an entrepreneur is about 2 things.

1. Learning the skills you need to do step 2.

2. Creating something that people want and figuring out a way to help them pay for it.

Its well documented in books like "The Talent Code" that the most effective way to learn is to be an environment where everyone else is doing the same thing and being sucessful at it. So yes SV would be the best way to start a VC backed startup.

But there is actually something thats more important than the above 2 - a HUGE SURGING MARKET. People in SV are not near Indian middle class and arent focussed on it even though: "The middle class in India and China is bigger than the middle class is US + Europe + Brazil + Africa combined". Give this and the fact that you CAN learn on your own I think you should stya in India and try there.

Use social media to watch videos from SV and learn. But stay in a huge growing market with much less startup competition. Even if you suck at execution but listen to the market your bound to become rich.

Now if you didnt have to do 1.5 + 5 years of slaving away for a corporate master before you could start your own company in SV then I would recommend SV but you dont have that option (unless you qualify for founder visa when that bill gets enacted).

All said and done, go out tomorrow buy Rs 2000 of vegetables from a vendor and try to resell it at market where you live. You'll learn sales and negotiation and you'll get the feeling of getting paid with cash - it'll be a great first step :)

If you are planning to startup in future, would suggest you to join the startup. The payment is any ways good, and when you factor the taxes and all, your take home will hardly be any different.

Plus, working on a startup will enable you to learn a whole lot more, you may get to meet the investors and talk and build a rapport.

Working in Big Companies will not give you the skills required to startup. They train you to adhere to processes. :)

Amazon might be different than other Indian companies, then again the bosses and the managers will be coming from Indian companies. ;)

How long do you want to wait before you want to startup? 18 months in India, and then depending on availablity and assuming the HR is telling the truth, 1 more year in SV? Still you might not get to learn much about startups during that period.

I personally want to take up the first option since I'd get out of Chennai and working for a startup will be more fulfilling. I don't really enjoy testing and would be stuck in Chennai

From the sound of it, it seems you know what to do :)

15L at an Indian startup is really good. That also says that they are either funded or profitable. And since you aren't the first employee, you don't have that brand-new-startup risk.

I know people around me with the same amount of experience as you and get paid a lot lesser but they say they are satisfied and "can live with it". If I were you I would just choose the startup.

I'm a regular at Bangalore tech events (mostly attend hackathons) and the guys there are pretty close knit and good.

P.S: I'm from Bangalore and work remotely for a YC-funded startup.

I'd say go for a startup, you are still young , you can take risks while you can. If you get married or with increase in responsibilities , you will not be able to take huge risks with your career. Amazon is offering you a job now , looking by that you will get a job at Amazon even after 2yrs , may be you can get dev there after 2 yrs :) . And working in startup , the exposure you get is way more than any where else cuz in big cos you will stuck to your work , but at startups you'll get your hands dirty and will not be confined to your work , whatever comes up u r forced to take . So I'd say go for startup :)

The two paths that I am seeing: join start up -> do your own start up join amazon -> do your own start up

If possible come up with what the start up will be about and perhaps get some traction. This is will eliminate your CV completely ;)

I respect having a back up plan, but for some having a really good one keeps them from fully committing to their start up idea.

You are not the first developer in the startup, they able to offer you a decent package means, so they are funded.

Both are jobs

if you think you can be a entrepreneur then choose the startup you can know complete process and how to get funded for your idea.

If you think you may not startup in next 2 years, take the well paying job and save for future

Not sure how the startup atmosphere in India is but the ability to "relocate to any amazon office after 18 months" sounds like a really really great opportunity for personal growth.

In my experience, HR reps will tell you anything to get you to take a job they are having trouble filling. They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by telling you what you want to hear. 18 months from now, that HR rep won't be there, and no one will remember promising you the chance to move to another office or better position. In the end, you'll quit and they'll make that same promise to another sucker. Don't take the QA job now if that's not what you want.

I've been told that relocation after 18 months is a company wide policy and is dependent on the openings in other offices at the time. I know some people through my friends who have done that. But I've been wrong earlier as well