Pros: The pay was amazing, and the problems are big.

Cons: The company culture prides itself on being toxic, and they blame it on their fast-paced growth mindset. I asked a VP if they were worried about the churn happening, and they laughed at me. The best way to describe the toxicity at Brex is like high school petty drama. On my second week there, I received feedback that the team doesn't trust me and that I need to work on building trust. By week four, I was on a PIP for not moving fast enough (Hello, it's week four!). Within three months, it got so toxic that I stopped going to meetings, and they suggested it was time I resigned.

Pros: Brex is the most transparent company I have worked for. This shows in the All Hands meetings and bi-weekly communication from the CEO. We are already a company of almost 1000 employees, and we are still sharing the board meeting reports. Brex has adapted processes to be a diverse and inclusive workplace from early on. For engineers and manager positions, 30% of on-site candidates need to be from minority groups, I heard. As an Asian woman, I also recognized Brex has very vibrant communities for women and Asians. In terms of work-life balance, though I have heard people working more than 12 hours per day, my team and adjacent teams seem to have a good balance. I, for one, was doing homeschooling (8:30-10 am) for the first 4 months at Brex and working normal hours (10 am-6 pm), and still got a good performance review. I have heard from a few managers that they worry about those people who work a lot might have a negative impact on other folks. So they reach out to understand their motivation. The overall sense I get is people work by their intrinsic motivation and not by external pressure so much. One Brex culture: People here do care about the company's growth much more than their own personal gain and team scope, as is often the case in a big company. I was in a big company for more than 4 years, and coming to Brex was an eye-opener. The pace is fast, the atmosphere is chaotic sometimes, but we are easier to be rallied behind one direction. Personal growth and recognition: My manager cares about his team members' personal growth and feeling of appreciation. Also, our team grew from 5 to >10 in one year, so opportunities are plenty.

Cons: - The pace is fast, the atmosphere is chaotic, and there are too many direction changes. - Infrastructure and tools are not built yet, so your productivity is significantly lower compared with an IC in a big company, particularly as a DS and ML engineer.

Pros: - Very strong leadership in terms of strategy and vision, communication/transparency, competency, and humility. Large decisions are well-thought through and communicated. This trickles down to managers too, which I’ve found to be very good at Brex. - It’s been very clear what’s expected of me. I spend most of my day doing writing code, reviewing PRs, and writing design docs. - Brex was among the first to announce a permanent remote-first approach during the pandemic. There are opportunities to work in office if you want it – either an actual Brex office if you’re located in a hub, or WeWork if not. We also hold fully paid remote team off-sites twice a year to allow for team bonding. - Monthly WFH stipend to spend on whatever enhances your WFH life. - Pick your split on salary/RSU distribution.

Cons: Tight timelines can be stressful. It has been more of a norm for me to work outside of 9-6 than an outlier, but I do this myself; no one’s chasing me to work late or on weekends. Given the recent initiatives, it’s understandable, but it’s not sustainable. Leadership has called this out as a problem to fix. Quite a few teammates at the company exhibit very obvious gender bias. This is not unique to tech, unfortunately, and I’m not sure if it’s specific to my team, but it’s a problem.