Pros
If you are early in your career this is the kind of place you want to start out. The business is overwhelmed by tons of different problems and wants to throw unexperienced, passionate people at them. You will have the opportunity to grow outside your degree and make a meaningful impact to those problems. If you want to start getting tons of great bullet points for the resume fresh out of school, you will have no problem doing so here. The business has been highly successful in their marketplace 'buy low sell high' mission. They have a powerful software backing their business that they have developed in house which enables them to power the machine at a low cost with high coordination with the business objectives. The people you work with are the most motivated and success driven I have ever worked with. The slackers don't last long here so you are constantly surrounded by people that want to push to improve in their own personal development and push the business forward. Community service is a primary objective of the business and the scope has extended much beyond the cities where they do business. From art revitalization to helping homeless get things to help them survive the winter months, the dedication they show towards making an impact should not be understated.
Cons
Note: I left in 2018, so if you are reading this later note that some of this could have changed. The company moves quickly and things change constantly, so if you have any question of the tougher reviews you read, I would strongly encourage having a discussion with a current employee before taking the job. Additionally, my view is framed from a particular department. Some departments around the company work differently and have different microcosms of culture, so make sure you chat with someone in the department you would be working in. The overall guidance from senior leadership has the illusion of being 'open and honest'; however, this really isn't the case. The flat organizational structure hides a very strange control hierarchy in which other divisions have a serious impact on your own personal development and team objectives. The direction of the company is to simply make more money and figure out the value proposition along the way. Because of the overall lack of direction, objectives quickly change to a higher money making opportunity and make it harder to pursue a single objective. Work life balance is non-existent. If you are not a single and childless human, I would recommend finding another place of employment. The management claims that the value delivered is most important, but you will only find people spending 50+ hours in the office (remote work highly discouraged) getting 'shout-outs' and 'employee of the month' awards. Remote unfriendly and tough hours has driven away a good chunk of the top talent which the business would simply say 'Spreetail isn't for everyone' - a message that says they have no desire to improve working conditions. Salary compensation is average, most of the business is somewhat underpaid while software folks will make at average or slightly better for the midwest. Unfortunately, salary is about your only benefit. Healthcare (dental and vision as well) is okay, average for the area but other companies offer things like HSA contribution which helps offset remaining costs, Spreetail does not. They have a stock compensation package called SARs which has a very questionable value for your future as opposed to a 401k that would be valuable to future employment. There are no other core benefits (such as legal assistance, mental health support, etc). While this is a great place to start your career I would not recommend it for continuing one. Current leadership is comprised of a lack of real experience in the fields they direct and it seemed that whenever we brought in someone with a high level of knowledge, they were gone within 6 months (or less!). In one particular instance there was a company announcement following the departure (about a 5 month tenure) of the Director of Operations with 20+ years experience in which the CEO practically laughed how they didn't work well together. If you come in wanting to change something drastically that you weren't asked to, expect to be shown the door. For growth, you will probably have someone trying to train you that doesn't have much field experience with what they are trying to train you to do. If you are looking for a strong mentor to grow your career, you will be fairly limited in your search. The company values are a recruitment tactic and are not persisted by the management team. Additionally sometimes it felt like the incredible work we did as a company for the community was nothing more than a method of cheap, good publicity. The work mattered and we really helped people, but sometimes it just felt disingenuous. Overall you will have one of two experiences at Spreetail; you will either drink the kool-aid and reap mediocre benefits, or you will be overworked, overstretched, and underpaid. With a company direction unestablished and a policy of unexpected departures, make sure you have your exit plan from day 1.