Pros
- I was able to work with some smart engineers, although they may leave very soon. - As an engineer, I had the opportunity to start things from scratch, but it is far from being a good product.
Cons
1) There is a lack of a mid-term or long-term plan of where the company is going. The founders are only interested in impressing the investors or potential customers by doing demos all year round. There is no concrete plan to actually improve the technology to make a robust product. In the recent years, more and more competitors are coming out and they seem to be doing much better. This is unfortunate to the company. 2) Only the founders had the control of the budget. No one else had. I saw people be yelled at when they spent $5 over budge for booking an airbnb or for meals when travelling. It was so sad to see this happening. 3) There is so much micromanagement on the tech side. This reflects the dis-trust from the founders to everyone else. 4) There's not much career growth opportunities. Yes, you may get a better title, but there is no budget for you to direct (see 2), nor decisions for you to make (see 3). 5) Don't be mislead by the base salary, because that is mostly what you get. In addition, you will need to pay transportation, lunch, etc. There is no 401k match, no yearly bonus. 6) The attrition rate is so high. The founders think everyone is replaceable, so they kept hiring and firing. They did not understand the value of retaining experienced engineers.