Pros
- Most early employees are genuine and kind, from my spin-up buddy to the kitchen staff - The founders are energetic and friendly. Their aura attracted smart and kind folks at the early stage - Hopefully a big payout from the IPO - Food was delicious and healthy at the same time. Hmm those mixed grill Mondays and Taco Tuesdays
Cons
Dark triad became prominent as time goes by. - In addition to the common narcissism in tech, machiavellianism is a bigger problem in this company IMO. The over-index on "empathy" at hiring brought in people who are good at manipulation (for their personal gain, not to encourage productivity), as emotional intelligence required for empathy is correlated to emotional manipulation. - The accountability culture (or in the worst interpretation the "blaming" culture) selects the most self-serving and morally corrupt managers to survive. They do so by cultivating stories that it's all for the benefit of the team or the company, but if you observe what they really do, they operate with the "me first, second and third" principle. - The long window of pre-IPO hype attracted toxic people in, introduced a backstabbing scene and made the environment cutthroat. Envy at workplace is not an often talked about topic, but it was brought in by the hiring spree and became increasingly toxic.