by：ReachVC 桂曙光； 原文作者：Chris Dixon, 创业者及天使投资人

（Chris Dixon现在是Hunch的共同创始人，以前是SiteAdvisor（被McAfee收购）的共同创始人和CEO，他同时也做天使投资人，投资过的公司包括Skype （被eBay收购）、Postini （被Google收购）、Flarion （被Qualcomm收购）、Gracenote （被Sony收购）、P.A. Semi （被Apple收购）、Celtel （IPO上市）、BladeLogic （被BMC收购）、等一大把创业公司。）

加入初创企业的风险比大多数人的想象要小得多。实际上，我知道有没有人系统地研究过这个问题，但是，我敢打赌，初创企业工作职位的安全性要比大公司的更高，而且加入初创企业还会获得很好的回报。

原因如下：

大公司没有想象中那么稳定：我6年前从商学院毕业，我的同学中没有几个人创业或加入初创公司，他们绝大部分都选择“安全”的公司，比如贝尔斯登公司、雷曼兄弟、福特、一些对冲基金等等，这些公司都玩完了。相反，我知道的那些去初创企业的，工作很稳定，也很成功。

大公司对员工不忠诚：如果大公司要裁员，就会很粗暴地直接砍掉这些人，而不会考虑这些员工对公司是多么忠诚、他们工作是多么努力。而留下来的人是那些有幸身处受到保护的部门的人，或者是那些善于搞政治的人。

而另一方面：

融到资的初创企业的薪水很不错：如果你创建或加入的初创企业得到了VC的投资，你通常会拿到市场水平或接近市场水平的薪水（另外，还会拿到有潜在升值空间的股份）。即便公司发展不顺，你也不会在收入上受到影响，而且还学到很多有用的技能。

初创企业往往对员工更忠诚：比如，在最近的经济危机情况下，我知道很多初创企业在裁员之前，先采取的措施是降低管理团队的薪水（甚至不拿薪水）。有经验的创业者知道裁员对于员工士气和他自己的声誉有多么大的负面影响，他们会想尽办法避免这种事情发生。

加入初创企业就相当于加入一个网络：你不仅仅是加入一家公司，你是加入一个由员工和投资人构建的网络，不管这家企业的命运如何，他们将在有趣、冒险的路上会勇往直前。如果你能打动他们，他们就会带着你一起往前冲。我就知道有很多初创企业失败了，但是有些员工继续活跃在创业者的新公司里，或者VC投资的另外一家公司里。

总之，创业企业比大公司更容易失败，并不代表加入初创企业的风险比加入大公司更大。

原文：Joining a startup is far less risky than most people think

Joining a startup is far less risky than most people seem to think. In fact, I don't know if anyone has ever studied this systematically, but I would bet that people who join startups have greater job security than people who join large companies, and certainly have better risk-adjusted returns.

Here's why:

- Big companies aren't as stable as you think: I graduated business school 6 years ago. Very few people in my class created or joined startups, instead opting for "safe" companies like… Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Ford, hedge funds that no longer exist, etc. Meanwhile, everyone I know who went the startup route has had job security and been successful - in some cases spectacularly so.

- Big companies aren't loyal to employees: When there are cuts at big companies, they tend to just use a hacksaw and not consider how loyal you've been or how hard you worked. The people who survive are often the ones who happen to be in certain favored divisions or are good at playing politics.

On the flip side:

- Startups that have financing pay pretty well: If the startup you found or join is VC backed, you usually make market or near-market wages (in addition to the potential upside you get with equity). Even if things go south you will probably have broken even financially and learned valuable skills.

- Startups tend to be much more loyal to employees: For example, in the recent downturn I know of a number of startups where management took pay cuts (in some cases took their pay to zero) before laying anyone off. Experienced startup managers know how devastating layoffs can be to morale and to their own reputation and tend to avoid them at all costs. Moreover, even when there are layoffs they tend to be based on merit and loyalty.

- When you join a startup, you are also joining a network - You aren't just joining a company - you are joining a network of employees and investors who - regardless of the fate of the startup you join - will inevitably go on to do interesting and successful ventures.  If you impress them, they will bring you along. I know of many cases where startups failed but employees went on to flourish at the founders' next startup or another company their VCs invested in.

In short, just because startups tend to fail more than big companies doesn't mean joining a startup is riskier than joining a big company.