I have the opportunity to maybe get a job as a software developer at a small software company that employs 14 people. But my gut is telling me that getting a job at a small company like that might he terrible. Do you guys have any experiences working at companies that small?
In my mind, I imagine the CEO would have a very large presence at the company and everyone would feel a lot of pressure to appease him. I imagine that the whole company would just be a boys’ club. But I guess any company can be like that, so maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, and the size of the company isn’t actually related to company culture?
Please let me know if you have any thoughts.
EDIT: The company has been around for two decades
Very small is 3 people. It’s a small company.
My experience working in a dev company exactly that size -
Pros
Less dead wood (people not carrying their own weight).
Everyone knows everyone well, it’s a tight team
Think it, do it - quick to develop and respond
Less pressure
Feels a bit like a family
More chilled than corporate esp. working from home
More support of networking and linking up with industry peers
Higher degree of trust and support
Way more latitude to do what you want to do
Easy to influence senior leadership
Can offer things like equity etc
If you’re a high performer you will be noticed
Way less red tape
A lot more trust
Company can prosper if everyone works hard
Cons
Company favourites
Can be quite political, although far less so than some large organisations I’ve worked for
Less cover if you’re on leave or similar
Harder to get some things done if money is needed (lower budgets and thinner reserves)
Lower remuneration, fewer levers to pull to get a salary increase
More drama with paychecks etc
Fewer higher skilled people to learn from
Culture can go sideways quickly
Nowhere near the same level of support and benefits provided by the big companies
Tend not to attract the best and brightest talent
Comoany more impacted by economic conditions
It also greatly depends on you and your preferred style. Some people just outright don’t like working for big businesses and prefer smaller gigs.