Amazing people, inspiring (and challenging) goals
Pros
- The mission to fix procurement is super inspiring. When we help governments purchase disaster relief supplies or improvements to local infrastructure, it's clear how the work directly impacts the public. - The team is wonderful to work with. People are friendly and fun but also really engaged. Engineers say this is the fastest team they've ever seen and a great place to learn by doing. The mission attracts teammates interested in civics, and from diverse backgrounds (engineering is mostly women + nonbinary folks!). People genuinely like hanging out. - Compared to other startups, the founders did an amazing job setting up mature processes and a nontoxic work-life balance. They set an example of working hard while also prioritizing kids & family.
Cons
- Marketplaces are hard. Designing for multiple core user personas with a small team is hard (and a constant balancing act). There's a lot to do, and a high velocity bar. It can feel intense sometimes. - Like a lot of startups its age, Pavilion had a rough time transitioning from the ZIRP era to a harder fundraising environment. More focus on revenue earlier would've made things a lot easier later.