Building a Better Workplace by Example
Pros
People care. People believe in the vision, and they believe in their peers, and go to lengths to show both of these to be true. This applies to interns and execs equally; drop by Robert's office to see how true it is for yourself. The culture reinforces itself when you see how hard people work to build something awesome, it's really inspirational. Flexible schedules. You're adults; if you can accomplish your work, you manage your own time (normal caveats apply, of course -- physical presence is still important, and there are only so many meeting times that will work for most people). Sweet perks - Free catered lunches, on-site gym, free bootcamp/Crossfit classes (yoga will be returning as well), some health/exercise related partner discounts, ping-pong, arcade games, beer on tap. Making a difference. Working here gives you an opportunity to positively affect people's lives across the workforce. Even better, it's universally applicable. Is there something that annoys you about work in general that you don't think needs to be that way? Here's a great place to start trying to work on that. Good brand. People commonly not only recognize but actually like the company, which gives super positive vibes. (Obligatory shout out to the awesome PR team!)
Cons
The first 2 aren't really hard "cons" as much as reminders that this is a bustling tech company, not a haven of freeloaders enjoying overcompensation and perks: 1) Things move very fast, and change is constant. Employees must be able to keep up. 2) Crunch time is no joke. Engineers might see long hours on a per-project basis, and salesmembers see it with the seasonal business. Other departments likely have similar waxes. I questioned whether the finance team ever left the office for months (during times I was working 11-12 hour days, no less). Bureaucracy is growing. As the company grows, so come more layers that slow everything down. This is exacerbated by new hires higher up on the food chain since they need to ramp on more things. Zero-to-market time on products has taken a hit. MVP delusions. Many products are initially built as lightweight as possible, or the "Minimum Viable Product" with the intention of filling out later, but... never quite get filled out. This mindset hurts engineering as much as it hurts the product by encouraging hacky, non-reusable code. A bit behind the tech curve. The product brainiacs (I don't mean that in a bad way; they're just smart) drive their roadmaps with gusto, leaving less time for engineering innovation and infrastructure. There have been some internal drives to address this, but there has been little penetration.
