Pros
Hey, guess what? It’s possible to love what you do, and love where you do it. That can be difficult for some to believe, but the mere fact that places like Spiceworks exist not only proves this, but sets the benchmark for other companies looking to attract the best and brightest.
Standard nice perks with snacks, drinks, and catered lunches, onsite exercise programs, casual dress, light-hearted atmosphere, and flexible work hours that trust us and treat us like adult professionals. But all those things are only evidence of a great place, not the cause.
The real reason Spiceworks is awesome is that the people here refuse to succumb to the rat race grind, with everyone taking a personal interest in making sure the culture doesn’t die as the company grows. Spiceworkers, most especially the Founders, are acutely aware of how fragile good culture is and how fast we could lose it. It may still happen that way as the company grows and the competition and finances tighten up, but as long as we concentrate on keeping our users happy by building products and services they love, it’s hard to see how things could go south.
Note to senior management anywhere – when you create an awesome place to work, you’ll attract and keep awesome people, and they will produce awesome results. The MOMENT you forget that and start focusing on corporate doubleplusgoodspeak like “maximizing shareholder value” it’s only a matter of time before you start hemorrhaging top talent.
Open and transparent leadership at Spiceworks lets us know the “what” and “why” of major decisions, for the most part leaving the "how" to the brilliant people who work here. Metrics shared at Friday company meetings help us all get engaged and aligned with improving the bottom line. We all need to feel that what we’re doing matters, is valued by the company, and that there’s plenty of opportunity to learn and grow. Spiceworks is that kind of place.
Cons
Austin traffic sucks. Not Spiceworks fault, but it makes the commute an awful experience. No solution for that. But it's hard to sit in traffic day in and day out and think, “this is the best it will ever get.”
