Which company is better for a new grad. Got offers from both, they are around 200k. Ramp is valued at 5.5 bn in the latest round, Notion still at 10 bn. Pay isn't important to me because I anticipate moving companies, if not starting my own, down the line. Which company is a better setting for beginning my career? People seem to hype up Ramp's talent density, but Notion also seems to be thriving. Any thoughts are appreciated.
I think everyone is voting Notion because they know it and don’t know Ramp. Ramp is a way better bet. Do you really think a markdown note taking app with significant open source competitors that is somehow already worth $10B is a good company bet? Dropbox has been around forever with massive contracts and user base and is worth $8B on the public market. Ramp is in an industry with massive barriers to entry and has a lower entry valuation to give it room to grow.
Those figures don't really matter. You know Flexport was valued at $8B right?
^ agree 100%
That competitive progtamming ubernerd from youtube is at Ramp
First of all, take the TC numbers with a grain of salt. Both companies are overvalued. Liquidity is not guaranteed so don’t treat the RSUs the same as cash. The most important question to ask yourself is if you want to work on a consumer app or enterprise software? This is a personal choice and there is no wrong answer. Look at how the companies are expanding because that’s what you might be working on. Notion’s last big launch was their calendar (from their acquisition of Cron). Ramp’s last big launch was procurement (from their acquisition of Venue). They’re both expanding into different verticals in their respective industries. Which industry has verticals that interest you more?
Btw, if you want to start your own company, I would definitely choose Ramp. There are many ex-Ramp folks starting their own thing. I constantly have VCs in my inbox asking me if I’m planning on starting my own startup or know a Ramp employee who will be. The CEO and CTO will almost certainly invest in your startup. They also have a habit of acquiring startups founded by ex-Ramp people. If you intend to just jump to a different company then go somewhere else ;)
if anything ramp is undervalued my fellow ramperson
I think Ramp’s ceiling is higher. They’ve built a very talented team
Notion valuation still makes zero sense
Ramp for sure. Financial services essentially have zero ceiling for max valuation. Note taking / productivity apps always seem to hit some limit and then stagnate or slowly decline. Evernote and Dropbox are examples. Even if you don't necessarily care too much about equity upside, a faster growing company is still better for your career because you'll have more opportunity to get promotions, raises, move to management if you want to, etc.
You’ll have more equity dilution at Ramp which isn’t good. It’s a Series D company which has a valuation of around 5 billion now. There Series C gave them a 8 bil valuation and then they had a valuation cut which is never a good sign. Everyone above makes good points but Notion has never had a valuation cut. Even with multiple external 409a’s. If you actually have an offer for both (which I find surprising because we don’t usually hire new grads externally), your recruiter will tell you our ARR, which will confirm why we are valued what we are. But outside of that, team and manager are most important. Join the company where you feel strongly about those areas. Either way, congrats on your offers!
afaik down rounds don’t affect new employees, since you’d be joining at the same valuation as what the investors paid
Both have very strong engineers from top schools and companies but i know that ramp promotes quickly and more mentorship opps
ramp has better talent
Not true at all
From an outsider’s view, Ramp stands out in its talent density, while Notion seems like a cool startup with good culture, but not the type of startup that brings in the top performers. Not to say Notion doesn’t have great talent - it clearly does - but it doesn’t stand out vs. its peers.