>But if we look at other companies interesting problems exists every where<p>I spent close to 15 years solving interesting problems at startups. I learned a ton, but also had to deal with the stress of the companies' financial security as well as the downturns of 2008 and the early 2000's.<p>After my last startup was acquired, I spent a few years at large companies and learned that while I felt pretty "been there, done that" WRT to writing code, I really enjoyed mentoring people and working cross-functionally with other leads, architects, etc. across the company to define initiatives.<p>That let me to FAANG, where I'm still solving interesting problems, mentoring junior folks, working cross-functionally across the company, etc, but I'm literally making 3x what I made at my highest paid startup gig. Once the house and kid's college are paid for, I can see myself going back to early stage startups to get back to my roots, so to speak.