Startup dangled a decent base bump and "meaningful equity," which is corporate for "hope you enjoy ramen and risk." My mortgage isn’t paid in stock options, but damn if the work doesn’t actually sound interesting for once. Still, outside of layoffs, Cisco does offer a level of stability. I can't decide if the risk is worth it.
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Choppy waters ahead, so bring your life vest if you go.
The smaller companies will be under massive pressure the rest of the year with the orange man taking his approach on tariffs. Over half will disappear by 2026. Good luck
FWIW I left Cisco for a small well connected start up and couldn’t be happier. I didn’t realize how depressed I was at Cisco until I left, and I was a successful seller. You don’t owe Cisco anything :)
Based on your complete lack of information I'd recommend you go with "that."
For the benefit of others, a stable paycheck for doing low level low quality work may seem good for now but if or when you have to get another job if you haven't grown your skill set as others in your field have you're going to be toast.
If you're just trying to manage risk, don't go to a startup without a highly connected leadership team that has a clear and viable exit strategy. Most of the people Cisco used to pull in whole teams from competitors then showered their employees with millions as they got bought into Cisco would be a money play if you could get on that train. Having spent too much time trying to stabilize the bad decisions made for expediency by those companies once they came into Cisco they learned no more about developing quality than the average person already employed by Cisco so it was connections, not ability, that allowed them not to be part of the 90% of startups that failed.
Between flailing startups and dying dinosaurs are a range of opportunities which may better suit many people.
“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” - Steve Jobs
@ag This is what I'm worried about. I have to admit stability (as shaky as it is) is important to me, but I don't want to live with regret for who knows how long - especially if it takes off.
up to you, but hard disagree that Cisco offers "stability"
Cisco is still overstaffed and misaligned; we're just taking a break on LRs until another market dip opens the opportunity for the next round and execs can see how the dust has settled from the last round
Your indecision is your decision.
Base bump, equity, and work that has you leaning in with interest? No brainer. Pass and you’ll forever regret.
Take pen to paper and write two columns: PROS & CONS. It might help to visualize which outweighs the other.