Is it an easier path to success to climb the corporate ladder or join/start a startup?

Join at start up and grow with your company

Start your own business, unless you are already rich, related to or married to someone rich or in a rich family or that has their own business already, you are better off doing something you love.

Join a startup

It depends on your skillset and interests. Success in corporate jobs requires a great deal skill at "managing up". Managing up, in a nutshell is the art and science of anticipating the political and emotional needs and concerns of your superiors, and then delivering results based on those needs. To some extent everyone needs to be able to manage upwards in order to get their job done, but I having spent my career in big and small companies I have found that big companies tend to promote and invest in people who are extremely savvy at managing up. And when I say managing up, I am not saying you should have a good relationship with your boss, which is always a good idea. It is really about doing whatever it takes to make your superiors perform better, while also delivering the results that they care about. Startups are basically the opposite. Again, relationships are always important, but you will spend far more time doing actual work that impacts the bottom line.

There is no short cut to hard work. climbing corporate ladder also has good and bad, and joining/start a startup also has risk. No matter where you are there you are! Therefore your success is all about your relationship with others. How good is your relationship with wife will make your day miserable or heaven. How your relationship with your mother and father will make your life long and short. Your relationship with that mechanic you go every 3000 miles will save you money or cost a fortune and waste time effort energy going back and forth a car dealer. Your relationship tells others who you are. Make other people's success your success instead of how can I step on other's so that I can step up? or How can I put down others so that I can step up? Instead, remember other's success is your success.

You will gain more experience at a startup but most startups are hesitant to hire someone who hasn't had large corporation experience. My advice would be to start at a large company that has a set process that works - then you can take that with you if you find out that startup life is for you.

I think climbing the corporate ladder gives the experience to succeed.

Easier to climb: Join a start up or small company