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Transformative Tech, Chaotic Growth

Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at Flexport for 1 year
October 23, 2017
San Francisco, California
5.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

I've always been excited to work at companies that use technology to transform archaic, super-manual, huge industries, and Flexport fits that perfectly.

I also think we're tackling some very tough problems. We're building the social-enterprise graph of global trade. And if we think like Jeff Bezos, maybe one day we will have the Amazon for Enterprise (e.g., Seller orders X amount of goods from Y manufacturers in a foreign country, and it magically shows up at the seller's warehouses so they can sell to their customers).

There are so many career growth opportunities. I've been able to choose between further developing my tech chops, going into management, and starting an initiative from scratch. As Ms. Frizzle says, "Take chances. Make mistakes. Get messy."

I love the healthy 50:50 split of engineering types here. We have some product/business-oriented engineers (usually from smaller companies or ex-founders), and some very wise/seasoned infra engineers (Google/FB/Uber/etc.).

It's easy to work with other departments. Since joining, I've been able to work pretty closely with people from ops, marketing, and sales. I'm constantly learning the skills to be able to do my own successful startup one day.

Cons

We're growing too quickly, and so it is chaotic sometimes. Processes that were once functional quickly stop working. I've come to realize over time that sometimes it's better to just go fix it myself than to wait for someone else. Make sure you don't overwork yourself!

Advice to Management

Keep up the transparency! Please continue focusing on maintaining a great culture.

It's not an easy thing to solve when half the company has only been at Flexport for < 6 months.

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