I think the problem is that FAANG developers are being seen as the worst of both worlds: solid performers but with Rockstar expectations (salary, desirability, job hopping). And a bias towards overcomplication.
(I am not making any claim this is true, but it's the view I encounter)
Personally, having worked in very small orgs (8 people) and moderately large ones (800), there is definitely a culture shock moving down an order of magnitude. You have to be more generalist and keep a very goal-oriented view. Small company work tends to be much higher ambiguity; you have to think about delivering something that may change within a few months, and where outages are seen as 'a good problem to have'. Scaling is less important than agility.
(I am not making any claim this is true, but it's the view I encounter)
Personally, having worked in very small orgs (8 people) and moderately large ones (800), there is definitely a culture shock moving down an order of magnitude. You have to be more generalist and keep a very goal-oriented view. Small company work tends to be much higher ambiguity; you have to think about delivering something that may change within a few months, and where outages are seen as 'a good problem to have'. Scaling is less important than agility.