Apple

You may get to work on the number one feature, on the number one product, from the number one company in the world. Processes in place for risk management are excellent. Everyone shares a common goal to make the best products for the consumer, and it shows in most every conversation you have. Plenty of smart people to learn from.

All your friends and family know about your company and the products you helped create.

Some of the higher-ups are just Apple dinosaurs who have been promoted over time for what appears to be loyalty and relationships alone.

Quite a few don't have the capability to understand what they are managing and regularly make poor decisions. Engineering is the only profession I know of where this disconnect can be so vast. Have you ever heard of a chief of staff at a hospital who wasn't a physician?

Managers can manage with an iron fist due to the legacy of Steve Jobs, and for some, he is the only management role model they have. This works if you are him and CEO, but not so much if you're director level. Lately, this is being improved upon with frequent re-orgs.

People keep saying how everyone is an "A" player, but this isn't really true. I have worked with smarter people elsewhere.

There is no opportunity to publicly discuss your work or get involved with academic research.

Secrecy can get in the way.

Open up the information flow a bit (or a lot) more internally.

Seems like the press generally knows what's coming anyway.

Allow for richer external working relationships.

Focus on finding better middle-to-upper level management talent.