Pros
I found Shearwater because I was looking to join a small startup focused on social good. There were things I knew were important to me, and have remained so. * Mission -- the end goal of the work is making students' lives better. For some programs, this means that we're trying to prevent them from dropping out; others, trying to help them acclimate to American culture. It's very important (and motivating) for me to know that, at the end of the day, that's where it's going. Many people find this motivating as well; perhaps atypically for a for-profit, lots of us have education or nonprofit backgrounds. * Learning -- it's a startup, so sometimes you will find yourself saying, "Wow, this is pretty important. Wow, I'm the person working on it." I've worked in a lot of different areas, which I think has accelerated my learning. (For context, I'm a software engineer). Contrary to the "startup" = "do things fast + sloppily" stereotype, we have consistently high standards for code quality (all code is reviewed, etc.). But I'm amazed at how many things Shearwater does right which I didn't even know were important to me; now I find them indispensable. Most of these are strong norms that have been set intentionally. * Feedback -- it's the norm for me to give constructive criticism to my manager, as well as receive it back. I expect to always know where I stand. (In addition, we have a quarterly review process which is taken very seriously.) People actively solicit critical feedback, and sincerely want it. We're still humans; it's messy, but we're trying. * Transparency -- Leadership is never secretive; the best way to figure something out is always to ask. I've brought up some concerns to James which, had this example not been set, I probably wouldn't have shared. * Friendliness + Culture -- Everyone eating lunch together and having an interesting conversation is the norm. (Definitely not mandatory though). New employees have coffee with everyone on the team in their first two weeks. Relative to other companies I've worked at, I know the people who are outside of my immediate sphere better, and feel more like I have something in common with them. * Work-from-home -- The norm is that you can work from home any time, for any reason (unless you have a meeting); just let people know where you are. We have a similar no-limits PTO policy, which some people really do use to good effect (though honestly, I can't say I'm one of them). * Autonomy -- If I think something is important, I bring it up and, if it really is, we work on it. In other jobs I've had, I felt like what I did was "get work done." The work already had a shape, we already knew what shape it would have when it was done, I was just filling that in. Here, the activity I'm doing most of the time feels more like "solving a problem", and any solution will be acceptable so long as it solves the problem.
Cons
It's intense! Emotions can run high because everyone has strong opinions, and we're discussing them in tiny rooms for long stretches of time. Take a 5 minute break. As a corollary of the above; since there are so many things to care about, it's easy to find yourself working at night and on the weekends. I have never felt like I was under a deadline that was not self-imposed; do with that information what you may. The way you do some basic things will probably be called into question. Some find this pretty destabilizing, and I understand why. Everyone is pretty young. I think some age diversity would provide better perspective.