Pros
I consider myself extremely fortunate to be among one of the first employees hired at Feedonomics. As with any tech start-up, the ride has been bumpy at times, demanding creativity and fortitude as the fabric stretches to accommodate rapid growth. Early on, the CEO and senior management team formally implemented a set of values derived from James Kerr's "Legacy" (a great read if you ever get to pick it up). The team as a whole has really taken to these principles and made them their own, with workshops held at every level by employees with various degrees of leadership responsibility. Kudos to the CEO for bearing the torch on this until the team really began to personalize it. I think that this has provided a strong framework and common language to ground our efforts and keep teams aligned amid the fast pace of change. The management team in general is very perceptive when employees raise their hand and push the envelope of innovation. I have seen few companies with as much opportunity for quick vertical mobility. For example, I started as a data analyst and migrated to a senior sales executive role within the span of a year. I really think we have great folks at every level. Visionary leaders with a LOT of brain power (two of the founders' dad is the former Chief Data Scientist from Shopzilla!). Likewise, I'm impressed every day by the speed at which new hires often with limited prior work experience in this field take to handling very complex tasks. Very cool to see. This is reflected in the feedback we get from our clients, calling out specific members of our team with accolades like "she saved us big time right before Black Friday!" It's a really pleasure working here, and I'm excited to see what the future has in store.
Cons
As I alluded to in the Pros section, this company has grown FAST. We were recently ranked Inc.'s #95 fastest growing company in the country. With dramatic bursts of growth can come significant growing pains. All and all, I think we've weathered it will, however at times I think the our senior team could be better at selecting and sticking to priorities. Being as entrepreneurial as we are can at times be a double edged sword. The technology is innately capable of supporting such a versatile range of solutions across different verticals/markets, and we're so eager to serve an ever-widening pool of clients, that we sometimes have to wrestle with delays on core product developments. I think we've hit an inflection point where this markedly improving. In line with the "Legacy" values that are so core to how we communicate internally and serve customers, I'd like to see these make their way into the kitchen. The company kindly provides snack options for employees. I'd like to see these options be guided with more consciousness around human and environmental health. It's an investment, not a cost, as healthy people build better feeds! :)
