This is the type of company ambitious college graduates should join
You should join a youngish "hypergrowth" company - growing 100% year-over-year- that has 50-500 employees and a proven business model. At least, that's what Adam Nash, CEO of Wealthfront, an automated wealth advisory firm, recommends.
Prior to joining Wealthfront, Nash was at Apple, early at eBay, and early at LinkedIn. He spent time as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Greylock.
Nash's theory on where people should work comes from Wealthfront founder Andy Rachleff. Rachleff is also a veteran of the Valley, having co-founded Benchmark Capital, one of the most successful venture capital firms.
Why join a hypergrowth company? Because, when it's that young it's not going to have enough employees to do everything that needs to be done. So, you're going to learn a lot.
If you're interested in doing your own company eventually, you'll get a better view of how things work at a startup. Even if you don't want to do your own company, this is a smart place to start your career.
A hypergrowth company is a better bet for ambitious young people than Google, or Apple, says Nash. At a bigger company you're going to be a less important piece of the machinery. You'll be working on different sorts of problems. If you want to work on the challenges that Google offers, then you should definitely go. Just be aware that it's going to be quite different.
"At a fast-growing company, chances are good you'll have a higher position two years after you join," said Rachleff in a blog post years ago. "At a slow-growth company, no matter how good a job you do, you won't have the same opportunities to advance."
The added bonus of being an early employee at a hypergrowth company is that if it succeeds, then you have that on your resume forever. Look at Nash! He was a part of two mega successes, eBay and LinkedIn. That gives him serious cred.
"When it comes time to leave the successful company, you'll be able to write your own ticket," said Rachleff. "No one will remember if you were employee 20 or 120. Everyone wants to recruit or back people from successful companies because they know/think people carry the lessons of success with them."
What sorts of companies fit this description? Wealthfront has a collection of names here.