Elastic

The flexibility at Elastic - remote working, self-initiated projects, and so on - speaks to the amount of trust the company and employees share with one another. It takes a certain mindset to thrive in that environment, but it's truly different and liberating to be able to do so.

The quality of employees here is evident when you realize that despite language, cultural, and experience differences (it's a globally distributed company, after all), almost every interaction is courteous and friendly across any level of seniority.

One telling aspect about Elastic is that problems that do come up - no company is perfect - are actually handled well and openly, not allowed to linger.

The aforementioned freedom requires a degree of effort to initiate communication when it comes to reporting on status, progress, help, and so on. I initially disregarded this, but it does take work (but the effort is worth the autonomy).

Growing pains do show up here and there as teams adapt and the company grows, which can take adjusting, but aren't too bad.

Keep the culture of trust in employees. Keep the lines of communication open. Be cognizant of how flat the organization is, and bear in mind how the presence or lack of hierarchy affects work and relationships between employees.