Question
Should I accept a job offer from Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, or Square, considering pay, work culture, stock options, how challenging the work is, etc.?
Answer
If you want to stay a while and grow, pick the one where you'd be reporting to the best immediate manager. Research shows this is the best predictor of your experience at a job, and unhappy employees primarily leave because they don't like their immediate managers.
If you want to save some money fast to fuel other ventures, go with Facebook. You can last in all but the most toxic of places for a couple of years.
If you want to build net worth, unless there is something you're not telling us, it's basically too late at all these companies. Find a real startup where you are #10 or lower.
If you want a bit of a laid-back sinecure, with room to hide and work on your own stuff (Stanley Bing's Retired at Work) concept, I'd suggest LinkedIn. It's the most traditional of the companies listed, with most room for this stuff.
If you want to maximize technical learning, Google is probably still the best place.
Square honestly sounds like the worst candidate along most metrics.
And a word of general advice. Do NOT attempt multi-factor optimization. Optimize on one important fundamental variable. Indirect effects will improve a few others, and a few you will need to compromise on. Trying for a "good mix" will result in a mediocre experience and make you a mediocre person. People who make a lot of impact tend to be the opposite of well-rounded, and their careers contain many extreme situations.
The key fundamental variables are: money, manager, technical extremeness in things going on (even for non-techies).
Non-fundamental variables include company brand, internal culture and peer group. Maximizing these leads to mediocrity.
Stock can be either, depending on circumstances.
If you want to save some money fast to fuel other ventures, go with Facebook. You can last in all but the most toxic of places for a couple of years.
If you want to build net worth, unless there is something you're not telling us, it's basically too late at all these companies. Find a real startup where you are #10 or lower.
If you want a bit of a laid-back sinecure, with room to hide and work on your own stuff (Stanley Bing's Retired at Work) concept, I'd suggest LinkedIn. It's the most traditional of the companies listed, with most room for this stuff.
If you want to maximize technical learning, Google is probably still the best place.
Square honestly sounds like the worst candidate along most metrics.
And a word of general advice. Do NOT attempt multi-factor optimization. Optimize on one important fundamental variable. Indirect effects will improve a few others, and a few you will need to compromise on. Trying for a "good mix" will result in a mediocre experience and make you a mediocre person. People who make a lot of impact tend to be the opposite of well-rounded, and their careers contain many extreme situations.
The key fundamental variables are: money, manager, technical extremeness in things going on (even for non-techies).
Non-fundamental variables include company brand, internal culture and peer group. Maximizing these leads to mediocrity.
Stock can be either, depending on circumstances.