For any company larger than 20 people, it matters more what group you are in than what company you enter. I've met miserable and extremely happy people from/at Google. If you end up as Peter Norvig's protege, I imagine it's pretty awesome. If you end up in the wrong group and you're not able to move, it probably sucks.<p>If you're under 35, stock performance and pay are not nearly as relevant as what you'll learn and the quality of people you'll work with, unless you hit an economic home run (e.g. enter the next Google on the ground floor).