Paul GrahamVerified account

If you were a 22 year old that just graduated college today, what would you do with your life? @GwynneShotwell @naval @RampCapitalLLC @eriktorenberg @AdamDraper @FutureJurvetson @smc90 @elonmusk @rrhoover @mattocko @jposhaughnessy @APompliano @paulg @bhorowitz @asteroid_saku

One thing I know for sure I would not do is go work for a big company, even a prestigious one like Google. I'd probably either go to grad school (like I did) or start a startup.

why not work at Google and do startups in nights + weekends? quit as soon as you hit on something

Because if you were ambitious, you'd find things at Google that were sufficient to engage your attention, and you wouldn't have enough energy left to work on your own ideas. And you'd make so much that you'd develop expensive habits.

Employers like Google are massive gravity wells.

Honing your software skills in a company filled with talent also seems like a good idea. Interested in your take on the trade-off on that vs. acquiring skills on your own