True. I prefer working for startups and tiny companies -- not because of the income potential (as you point out, there are better ways of chasing that), but because the really interesting stuff is almost always done by startups and tiny companies.
Small companies make it possible, large companies make it economical.
Not always true. There are some very interesting projects at Google, Apple, etc. that can only be done by companies capable of throwing hundreds of
Millions/billions of dollars at problems with uncertain payoffs
That is why I said "almost always done" and not "always done".
Of course, a lot of that is subjective, as it depends on what you find interesting. I don't personally tend to find large-scale projects very interesting because they tend to be worked on by large teams, rendering most individual roles to something much more narrow. But I do know plenty of devs who get very excited about large-scale projects. Vive la différence!
Small companies make it possible, large companies make it economical.