Pros
I enjoy the culture of a high-performance sports team. There isn't much politics or big egos around. No people fighting for promotions, nor titles, just an effort to do great work, learn and be proud. The team's momentum is insane.
1 - Mastery: I've gotten the opportunity, the time and the money to become really good at whatever technologies we use to solve the problems we've faced. AI, Optics, Laser, Radars, Manufacturing, Prototyping, Cameras, embedded systems, Linux. The fact that the company has money to run these -sometimes- expensive experiments is a privilege.
2 - Purpose: I don't feel like a cog, I feel like the person who is driving progress in the areas I am involved in.
3- Autonomy: Nobody is telling me what to do. We all take time and effort to deeply understand what the challenges we face to grow the company, and take on those challenges according to our abilities.
4- Compensation is not a topic. We don't get bribed with money, but the company issues comparatively high equity and more than fair wages. I don't feel like l need to use brain power in this subject.
Great contributions are often celebrated company wide.
Very transparent communication across and within teams.
Lots of opportunities to explore new ideas and test new solutions, without red-tape, management and team leads trust your good judgement
Cons
Balancing lifestyle and work is hard.
I often see myself working a lot and my wife complains I am not always home before 7pm. Not because I am forced to, but because I lose track of time, and also because I want to see the company succeed (along with my stock options). For difficult tasks sometimes you do need to dive deep and that requires focus and long hours.
That being said, I've never had to request permission to go to the doctor, or explain why I arrived 11am to the office (Maybe I needed to drop my kid at school) . There's a lot of freedom, but you do need to get the job done.
There are times (1-3 months/year) where myself and my team has put 55-60 hours/week (even though satisfaction polls were still high 4+ in a 1-5 scale).
