Pros/cons of working at Amazon AWS, Uber, Stripe
I'd like to compare the three since I have the opportunity to work at each. Just 3yoe, no brand names on my resume so far. SDE for Amazon. SRE at Uber Amsterdam (Payments, I think) SWE @ Stripe 3 companies at 3 different stages. Assume base comp is identical. What should I prioritize, and how can I go wrong choosing one over the other? I find AWS attractive, but Uber is a close second.
Given the company cultures and opportunity to learn more, I would say Stripe will take the first place, followed by Uber and AWS. Stripe has great engineers and they are efficient problem solvers.
By opportunity to learn more, do you mean that one is likely to be more involved in early architectural decisions? Does Stripe have the scale that Uber and AWS have, and the interesting challenges that come with scale?
Stripe does have scale challenges and more interesting challenges of working with variety of customers, building generic orders and payment related solutions. And when it comes to payments and money accuracy is utmost importance and brings in very interesting challenges. Since stripe is still young, you will make greater contributions in design and architecture than some senior person doing all that and giving you just implementation.
AWS; no need to overthink. With your YOE, you can handle the competition. In return what you will learn and be exposed to is immense.
What do you mean by 'handle the competition'?
the competitiveness of the Amazon environment.
SRE and SDE are pretty different roles, perhaps your preference for one or the other might inform your decision? Also Amsterdam is pretty different to Bay Area/Seattle in TC, culture, lifestyle, etc. They’re all great options, personally TC, location and role would be big factors for me. Europe is also great to check out for a year or more, working overseas is a privilege few get to experience.
Is there a strong SRE/SDE distinction at Uber? Is there an implied hierarchy as in many places? I was told that SREs work closely with SDEs, do development and tackle interesting reliability/availability problems at Uber. I also find systems work interesting, but AWS can give me that as an SDE too. I'm not from the US, and the other two are in Dublin, Ireland - Amsterdam is better on many fronts as a city. I'm moving largely because my partner is moving to Brussels, so TC is lesser of a priority.
SRE is on the dev track at Uber as well and the same SDE competencies apply. Expectations on building systems are pretty much the same. Amsterdam is a great office within Uber, lots of smart folks. SRE is starting out here and the office has large autonomy so a good place to have solid impact.
Stripe >> Uber >>>>>> AWS Everything they say about Amazon is true and then some
What if I threw Google in the mix? I'm waiting for HC response at Google, so didn't ask. Also are you an engineer? And do you speak from an engineer's perspective?
I'd put Google probably inline or slightly below stripe. Stripe is good people and still growing fast. Google is industry standard so you'll learn a ton and get a brand name, but probably more overhead than you'd like. Yes, l7 eng at Google, was similar at AWS. Never again
I’d go with Stripe: great people & eng. culture.
I think Stripe is an incredible place to work and would have it as #1 on my personal list. Then again, I find Finfrastructure interesting and I love their offices a lot.
I'm not an engineer so I can't say on that part. I know from most other facets (biz ops, design, marketing, etc.) The clear choice would be stripe as Aws/Uber are already pretty built up and don't have too much wiggle room for creativity. YMMV. I also might have used to do consulting and may have had that company as a client and really enjoyed it.
Yeah, I get what you're saying - the potential upside with Stripe is quite high, as far as growth in the org and RSU value is concerned. However, from a pure career capital perspective, that does introduce some risk too. Thanks for the input, I'll factor that in.