Pros
- Opportunity for Impact: The company is in a phase where it is figuring things out, presenting a huge opportunity for individuals from all backgrounds (sales, engineering, etc.) to make a significant impact.
- CEO's Leadership: Despite some complaints, the CEO is incredibly intelligent, reasonable and has vision. If you earn his respect, the sky is the limit. It's all about working hard and driving value.
- Product Potential: The company's product has immense potential.
- Strong Foundation: Despite some turnover, the foundation of the company remains strong.
- Challenging Environment: Nowhere else can you find better engineering and sales challenges. This is a great place to invest your time and emerge as a stronger individual contributor or manager.
- Excellent Culture: Having worked at many companies, I can say the culture here is positive. There is mutual respect across the board.
- Smart and Collaborative Team: The people here are intelligent and collaborative, making it a great highlight of working at this company.
Cons
- Leadership's Misdirection: Leaders sometimes dream up impractical futures. They should focus on the core product and customers, and just make it better.
- Overambitious Strategies: The tendency to aim for home runs with hiring, position creation, and go-to-market strategies can be a distraction. Simply "building it" with a strong team in each key department will bring prosperity.
With that said, I would rather have leaders with ambition and excitement than leaders that deny ideas or constantly penny-pinch / say no to everything.