I think a great solution is to work for a late-stage startup, or a startup with plenty of funding, or a company that's recently entered its growth phase. You'll have the security and resources of a larger company (and more time out of work to pursue your own projects!), but you'll still be one of the first 5-20 people in the office. The atmosphere will still be very scrappy and creative. And you know your bosses/mentors have a proven track record of success, because the company has already made it pretty far - there will be plenty to learn and absorb.
+1 for this. I work at Heroku and it has really been the best of both worlds getting to have a large impact on meaningful projects and enjoy the perks of a startup combined with the resources of a large company (Salesforce).
The market is so strong for engineers right now that you don't need to choose between decent compensation and startup environment; you can have both.
"The market is so strong for engineers right now that you don't need to choose between decent compensation and startup environment; you can have both."
