Hi James,

I would consider the following:

• Where do you want to be in 5-10 years? Look at the company that can help you to achieve that goal faster. Keep in mind that the startup may have a huge upside but also fail and you may have to restart from square one (still with some great experience).
• Where do you feel you fit better? Quoting Jim Rohn, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You will spend a lot of time with your colleagues in the next years - be sure you choose a company where people are close to the person you want to become.
• What is your gut feeling telling you? Our gut feeling is able to catch elements we cannot initially rationalize. You may “feel” a company is better, but don’t know exactly why. Delve into why you feel that way, do some research and try to understand if that point is valid. This should unlock your true personal criteria for a choice.

If you want to do extra due diligence, contact former employees of the startup and ask about their experience. You will learn more in a 30min call with them than with any online research you may do.

Best,

Francesco

Hello!

You are missing the key part that you need to make the right decision, that is knowing what you want to get out of this move regarding your goals (both medium and longer term). 

Depending on what you want to do next, one option makes more sense than the other one. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi James,

I normally advise people to figure out their values/priorities, assess the roles against that, then make the decision.

It sounds like right now you care about the type of work over the pay. As such, it sounds like the Fintech wins here (are you dissatisfied at the Big4?).

It sounds like the big preventative factor would be the fulture of the company. You need to do more research here. Talk to people at the firm, network with ex employees (and ask hard questions), visit the office, and ask people on Fishbowl/Blink.

There's already some good advice above, so let me add a different perspective here.

A mistake that a lot of people do in their careers is to see these decisions as binary options. Either you stay where you are, or you move to the new company. 

That is not how the world works and therefore not the reality you should consider.

You can (1) stay where you are, (2) move to the fintech, or (3) move to another company. 

If you chose (2), that prevents you from taking (3) in the near future. You might not even be actively pursuing (3), but you should.

I recently had a candidate asking me a similar question, only to realize she wasn't even applying to her dream job - and they were recruiting.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Now answering your question: just avoid toxic cultures. Unless you have a good exit plan, unless you have a clear view on what you are getting out of it that justifies the sacrifice, just avoid them. You will feel miserable. Life is too short for that.