Pros
1. Fast, hands-on experience with real client exposure — the kind of early-career learning curve that's hard to get in a more traditional corporate structure. 2. Genuine camaraderie among peers, with people generally willing to help each other out. 3. To leadership's credit, even when deadlines were missed, there was a real effort to keep morale up rather than let things spiral.
Cons
1. Pay transparency is poor — base pay wasn't something employees could discuss with each other. Bonuses stayed uncertain until they landed, and even then, weren't distributed evenly. 2. Work-life balance was difficult — long hours and weekends became the norm past a certain point, and remote work was heavily discouraged. 3. Almost no middle layer between newer hires and long-tenured leadership meant little real mentorship — more time was spent firefighting other people's issues than developing new skills. 4. A "blameless" culture was talked about, but in practice, it didn't feel like it applied evenly across the org. 5. Turnover among newer employees felt high, and visibility and growth opportunities seemed to depend more on circumstance than on output.
