Pros
Benefits are very strong. Pay is strong compared to other non-profits with whom Ideas42 partners or competes. Junior staff are fun, smart, very accomplished. Work hours are reasonable.
Cons
Imagine working at a paper sales company in Scranton, PA. The company's clearly dysfunctional top-down management style is at the root of all problems: project management, sales, performance reviews, etc. The management cannot mentor or lead. They don't know how to grow an organization because they never have. They are not respected inside or outside the company and do not know how to operate in the real world. But the management maintains that they are not top-down, and they use buzzwords that they hear in TED talks: "ownership", "flat", "feedback", "rigorrrrous", etc. The problem is management has only ever worked at top-down management places, so this is just lip service when they say it. They would not know how to really do the ownership or flat things if they had to, so chaos ensues. Junior staff are demeaned, and are on the receiving end of inappropriate/insensitive remarks from management about race and gender. Projects are chosen and scoped poorly, so most Ideas42 partners are upset and do not want to work with the company again. There is no legitimate training to be had, because management is just winging it themselves. 40 hour work weeks feel like 80 hours with all the drama. Careers are stunted. This would be a hilarious TV show if it weren't your own life and career.