This is all supposition, but I'm willing to bet that if such a position is available at Google, it would be necessary to have at least a Master's and preferably a Ph.D., with an emphasis on AI, in order to get such a position. The beauty of startups is that you can start them whenever you have the time and inspiration, and the artificial degree barrier is non-existent if your product is good enough.
Other posters show an inability to engage in a sufficient level of abstraction. Original post is an interesting question that has nothing to do with AI, Google, or Safari.
The point is that at a startup (especially the two guys and a laptop variety) you do absolutely everything yourself, while at a big company you are supported by IT, QA, custodial services, etc, etc.
The interesting question is whether there exist jobs for which that support is worth the money and freedom one gives up working at the large company.
The Big problem with a Big company: Let's say you're working on a great project and you know what the next step should be to make the project even better. But, management disagrees and pursues a direction that you know will diminish the value of the project. Your options are to suffer and watch your energy go to waste, quit and work for another company (repeat the above), or to start a start-up and do the job the way you know it needs to be done.
There has been nothing more stressful for me than having this scenario happen - I just can't stand by and watch my efforts go to waste. (The Big company context for me was in the Architecture world, but you can substitute any profession you like in the above scenario) The best stress-reduction decision I have ever made was to start my own company. It was very difficult financially at first, but it was completely worth it.
'... The interesting question is whether there exist jobs for which that support is worth the money and freedom one gives up working at the large company ...'
Money, freedom? I say risk.
There is less risk working in someone else`s company. If you take no risk then you will not have the potential to make more than in a startup. You also kiss your freedom away. Freedom. Thats a joke. For all those working for a company, tell me you really have the freedom to work, do what you want, when you want?
So if you want no risk, look forward to structured environments, other people telling you what to do and limit your ability to earn. Go work for the googles of the world [0].
Reference
[0] knowledge @ wharton, University of Pennsylvania, 'Perk Place: The Benefits Offered by Google and Others May Be Grand, but They're All Business'
Well you can just start a startup that works on hard problems, instead of one which revolves around your ajax code rendering correctly on various browsers.
You can solve a hard AI problem with a couple of good hacker friends, just as you could do that at Google. True that it'll probably take you more time than building another website around social networking.
I think that it's unrealistic to build a startup around an unsolved fundamentally hard problem. Can anyone think of a counter-example that succeeded? Typically, the problem is solved first, and then the startup is built to implement the solution.
Solving hard problems depends too much on creativity and research. I'm not sure I could do that under the pressure associated with a startup. The Google environment doesn't seem ideal either, come to think of it, but at least, I'm not the one absorbing the huge risk of failure.
Anybots is a startup that solved a hard problem, but it was self-funded, right? Would YC have funded them if it had been proposed by a 25-year-old Trevor Blackwell?
That's exactly what Andy Brice did with PerfectTablePlan.com
Uses some pretty advanced algorithms for planning seating arrangements.
Of course, the real challenge with a consumer product is usability, that intersection b/t your cool product and the folks with the wallets. But, that's where the money is. (Money isn't everything, of course).
What is your reason for working on hard AI problems at Google?
Not a rhetorical question.
One reason to worry about how my site renders in Safari is that I know people use Safari and if my site doesn't work for them they won't use my site. There's a thrill that comes when people enthusiastically approve of your work. Also I know my site will be higher quality and more valuable if it renders in safari. The more valuable my site is, the more likely I will be able to make money off of it.
Come up with a list for the Google job, and see how it compares. For me personally, both sound good.
"AI problems at Google" is just an example. I find hard technical problems interesting. A problem is hard if I don't know in advance whether or not I will be able to solve it. AI is hard. Making a good OS is hard. Startups avoid hard problems, because they have enough things to worry about already.
I'm not saying the job at Google with Peter Norvig (ah) is perfect. I was just pointing out another reason why I'm hesitant to make a startup.
That's funny. I work at a place that's supposedly full of hard technical (and creative) problems. But they're always someone else's problems.
And for every hard problem at a "real" job, there's 10 annoying ones. I bet the startup ratio is probably similar, but they're YOUR problems (hard and annoying), not someone elses.
I agree, I love working on hard problems. Sort of. What I've found is that I tend to make decisions for a variety of reasons, and am most decisive when I have a either broad convergence of motivation, or a singularly powerful one.
If you're asking yourself wether to pursue a job at google or starting a startup, you'll want to try enumerating as many reasons as you can for each one. You won't likely get a definitive answer, but the excercise will get you thinking about what other things are important to you. If you're lucky, one will turn up to be the obvious choice.
In my case, I have slid technically to the point that preparing for one is the same as preparing for the other.
Startup work is mundane but still really rewarding because you live and die by your own abilities. Besides, if you make the startup work you can go work on any hard problem you want because you've removed the 'I have to make enough money to pay the bills next month problem. PG did it, they build Viaweb and once they were done he started working on Arc. Nobody pays you to write new programming languages, and I'd bet money the person to make AI real won't be working for Google. The person who solves that problem will do it out of love and determination, not because they wanted to work at the Googleplex.
Possible solution: You can develop your startup's product with GWT and not have to worry about Safari (or any other browser) rendering properly.
Then you can focus on the the challenging and rewarding problems without worry of dealing with the mundane. The difference will be that they are problems YOU want to work on, not what Google wants.
What do you think? I haven't tried either, but working on cool problems ought to be worth something. Most startup work seems rather mundane.