DropBox vs Google

C3 IoT
WFLT54

Go to company page C3 IoT

WFLT54
Mar 20, 2019 205 Comments

I have two offers considering right now.

Please leave your honest comment for which I should take

Personal thought:

DropBox: good culture, better comp, maybe more scope, ownerships, responsibilities, but not really feel safe about future business.

Google Cloud: Big name, good culture ( at least for swe), heard of slower moving and slower promotions, might work on smaller scope of work due to level I am offered? Job and stock safety guarantee when recession comes?

Both: Good tech, a plus on resume, definitely a lot can be learned at both places?

Dropbox TC 260K IC2
Google Cloud TC 200K L3

Speaking of refresher, which might be stronger (average percentage)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

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TOP 205 Comments
  • Google 100%. Why even consider Dropbox?
    Mar 20, 2019 6
  • Google / Eng
    catburglar

    Go to company page Google Eng

    catburglar
    Google won't match?
    Mar 20, 2019 8
    • Tell Google. Get them to match...or at least come very very close. Then take it.
      Mar 24, 2019
    • Google
      nooglerx

      Go to company page Google

      nooglerx
      @JOANY you are slightly wrong. Google loves to low-ball and down-level if one doesn’t have anything competing on the table. $200k is median high L3 offer. $250k is median high L4 offer, even people who joined as new grad and became L4 in 2-3 years earn less than $250k most of the times. With competing offer Google does match though or at least come really close unless they are not very interested in the candidate.
      Mar 24, 2019
  • Google
    chenku

    Go to company page Google

    chenku
    Even if Google matches I feel career progression at Google is slow. I haven't been promoted even once in 3 months.
    Mar 24, 2019 8
  • Microsoft / Eng
    AmYe88

    Go to company page Microsoft Eng

    AmYe88
    If they match upto 230k go there.. You will have better learning as you at start of your career
    Mar 20, 2019 4
  • Google
    ySie87

    Go to company page Google

    ySie87
    Ex-DB here.

    On offer and benefit packages:
    Google will likely match or beat, just make sure you’re clear about what you want and let them know of the offer. Google equity vests as soon as you start and easily liquid (we get stock accrued every month). Also, Dropbox stock isn’t so great and still trying to stabilize.
    You have quantifiable paid vacation, sick, and paternity/maternity days from Google vs. Dropbox unlimited (which means if you leave you can get that money back). With Google you actually can travel around the world if you want. The healthcare offerings from Google have been really impressive. I barely ever pay for prescription drugs (most was $5). Google actually funds an HSA AND A limited health care fund. Peer bonuses also are great. Dropbox food is good, but you have multiple restaurants and offerings at every Google office. Generally the quality of basic things is much higher at Google, especially team events. Promo is pretty straight forward at Google, but a little more conservative to make sure people are ready for the level. Basically try your hand at the higher level work and then the promo will come whereas dropbox leveling has the issue where you’ll level up quickly but will likely get hard downleveled when you leave elsewhere.

    On career outlook:
    I think it depends on a lot of context. Dropbox doesn’t have a lot of diverse product areas and problems to attack. You can work on anything at Google and transfer teams anytime. You have about 3 options Given the size of the teams and company, you’ll find that problems are overstated, overengineered, and treated too conservatively. Google however has been more experimental and quicker at tackling problems that take Dropbox years to do. With the cloud space, it’s better to work at Google because you’ll have a sense of what success looks like in the space. I’ve seen cloud launch services with a hit success very quickly. However, I think everyone should work for an underdog at some point. You learn so much from those experiences as a product person. Imagine building something that exists to compete, really learning from that, and seeing it fail (getting killed or DB acquiring some startup that does what you just made). You’ll also find more seasoned product people at Google across the board.
    Mar 24, 2019 2