BlackRock

• Startup benefits (free food, drinks, standing desks, etc.) plus corporate BlackRock benefits (401k, cash bonus, parental leave).
• Diverse workplace, welcoming for women and LGBT.
• Most people are smart and approachable, especially Bo & Jon.
• Engineering has invested effort to reduce tedious work.
• Still lots of good people left, despite a string of high performers leaving after this year's bonus.
• Devs frequently work with non-devs throughout the company.
• Management generally listens to complaints and tries to correct course.
• Some teams allow flexible work-from-home arrangements.
• Many employees pick up better personal finance & investing habits.

Feels more like a vendor working for multiple partners rather than a true platform.

Arbitrary deadlines with no flexibility on feature requirements because someone promised it to a partner.

Each partner wants different features, and the company can't agree on how to prioritize. Some PMs end up on projects that will never ship.

Very little flexibility to be creative due to partner constraints.

Some BlackRock benefits (e.g., 401k matching) come with a 3-year vesting cliff!

Corporate HR policies like promotions and raises only on annual review, no stock awards, and personal trading reporting.

Devs always end up doing tech support and answering questions about the product (not enough product documentation or knowledgeable PMs).

Launch new partners with the bare minimum. They only get to have custom features prioritized if they can bring in a large number of clients.