Pros: I studied robotics throughout school. It was hard to really say what Applied does on the outside before I joined. After joining, I realized we do a lot of different things and have many different products. We do whatever it takes to land a deal, often sprinting to build out complex features in short windows of time. This is good because we land deals. It's bad because we are stretched thin and there is priority inflation everywhere. What is actually important? We sprint on things to prove we can do something, and then following up to make it robust is a lower priority. Things are changing, though, and leadership recognizes we must change as we scale. This is a lot different from the big tech experience. Even at our size now, everyone works on important work. There is more work to do than people to do it, which means we can only do the important work. Our advantage has been that we are light on our feet and can quickly adapt to prove we can deliver value to customers. As thrashy as it sounds, it works. I don't know who else out there moves as fast as we do. We constantly impress customers and land deals. Outside of the business model, the people that work here are: * Authentic people (no corporate BS). * Hard-working and motivated, not just at work (lots of work hard, play hard people). * Very smart. The reason I am still here is: * I genuinely like the people that work here, and some of them have become my closest friends. * I am learning at an extremely fast pace. * I am surrounded by people that are smarter than me. * There is extremely high transparency in how the business operates, and from what I have seen, I am convinced Applied will continue to be successful. * The company adapts frequently to the market; we are always on the cutting edge. * The equity growth has been strong.

Cons: The reasons I consider leaving are: * I work a lot (anywhere from 40-65 hours a week, typically more than 50), and this can eat into my personal life. * I am pulled in many directions and find it stressful to manage at times. * Things break a lot: our software, our developer tooling, our dependencies. This is generally going to happen in software all the time, but the rate here is probably higher. Sometimes this is not so bad long term because you learn something new and become a stronger engineer because of it. * I personally want to pursue something more health/fitness related in my future career.

Pros: People are extremely passionate about their work, which creates a culture of high expectations for quality and output, as well as growth-oriented feedback to achieve those goals. While the company is fast-paced, everyone is supportive and collaborative, which makes it feel like a team working towards one goal. I have a stellar manager who gives me thoughtful guidance and also proactively helps me find opportunities for growth. Engineers (ICs) are given a lot of trust and responsibility at the company, not only in terms of technical work but also involvement in sales meetings, product management, and design. There's a strong in-office culture. There are a ton of activity-oriented clubs that meet after work, such as basketball, swimming, or reading. People enjoy each other's company and enjoy coming into the office. The senior management at the company hold themselves to a high standard and care strongly about employee happiness. In my experience, they are willing to listen and do take feedback seriously. The company has certainly faced growing pains, but people care enough to continually try to make improvements. Individuals at the company are also encouraged and empowered to push for change.

Cons: Work can be intense, especially as you gain additional responsibility at the company. Work-life balance is possible, but you need to be clear with setting your boundaries. You may not be able to be competitive with others who are able to devote more of their time to work.

Pros: Get to work closely with cutting-edge autonomy stacks all across the world. Strong business model, lots of growth. Very technically capable employees. Technically engaging problems to solve in robotics, autonomy, and simulation. The type of work you can really lose yourself in. Eng-driven culture, not much wasted work or meetings. Strong performers are given a ton of freedom to decide product direction.

Cons: People here work very long hours; 50 hours is expected, but I normally have to work 60+ to keep up with peers (who also push code well into the evening). I'm into it at this point in my career as I'm honing my craft like never before, but know what you're getting into. Burnout can lead to people having meltdowns and leaving on a bad note sometimes. Startup to bigger company growing pains.