Inspiring CEO with horribly inexperienced lieutenants
Pros
The mission of ICON is great. The worker bees are all very kind, diverse and helpful. Salary comp is good for a startup (no bonus or 401k match). Convenient location in Austin.
Cons
My interview process was long (~2.5-3 months) with very little transparency or communication from HR or the hiring team. ICON does a brilliant job of marketing themselves, especially to the local Austin community. However, in our department (and certainly not every team is the same), we put so much emphasis on design that it takes away from actually shipping usable tools, learning, and iterating. Nearly every new idea/feature/etc requires months of meetings, agreeing, research and more research, then only approval of certain teammates will mean the ideas sees the light of day. Sadly, ICON is one of the worst leadership experiences I've had in my career. As a senior IC, I came hoping to learn from leadership and to grow. Most on the leadership team are in their role for the first time, so you will get no coaching. There is no training programs to move up or change internally, nor is there continuing education encouraged except OSHA (10 hours+) even if you have an office desk. For some Some of the ICONics who have been at the company for a very long time create a cringy culture. At times they make it feel exclusive and certainly not collaborative. Some leaders are given exceptions for judgmental and borderline insulting behavior.
