Top and (sustainably) fast-growing (over a long period of time) are roughly synonymous, but fast-growing is the upstream thing that causes it to be a good learning experience.
Note that billzito didn’t specify, but the important number here is userbase or revenue growth, not headcount growth; the former causes the latter, but not vice versa, and rapid headcount growth without corresponding userbase growth is very bad.
People definitely can see rapidly increasing responsibility in less-fast-growing startups, but it’s more likely to be because they’re over-hiring rather than because they actually need that many people, in which case:
You’ll be working on less important problems that are more likely to be “fake” or busywork
There will be less of a forcing function for you to be very good at your job (because it will be less company-threatening if you aren’t)
There will be less of a forcing function for you to prioritize correctly (again because nothing super bad will happen if you work on the wrong thing)
You’re more likely to experience a lot of politics and internal misalignment in the org
(I’m not saying these applied to you specifically, just that they’re generally more common at companies that are growing less quickly. Of course, they also happen at some fast-growing companies that grow headcount too quickly!)
Top and (sustainably) fast-growing (over a long period of time) are roughly synonymous, but fast-growing is the upstream thing that causes it to be a good learning experience.
Note that billzito didn’t specify, but the important number here is userbase or revenue growth, not headcount growth; the former causes the latter, but not vice versa, and rapid headcount growth without corresponding userbase growth is very bad.
People definitely can see rapidly increasing responsibility in less-fast-growing startups, but it’s more likely to be because they’re over-hiring rather than because they actually need that many people, in which case:
You’ll be working on less important problems that are more likely to be “fake” or busywork
There will be less of a forcing function for you to be very good at your job (because it will be less company-threatening if you aren’t)
There will be less of a forcing function for you to prioritize correctly (again because nothing super bad will happen if you work on the wrong thing)
You’re more likely to experience a lot of politics and internal misalignment in the org
(I’m not saying these applied to you specifically, just that they’re generally more common at companies that are growing less quickly. Of course, they also happen at some fast-growing companies that grow headcount too quickly!)