Pros: The pay was decent. There was a $750 budget for the remote office setup. The benefits were so-so.

Cons: Major disconnect between C-suite and mid-level management, continuing downward to software engineering team. Both device firmware and cloud backend teams consistently deliver under-tested, buggy software which create continuous dumpster fires. Hero culture: Team member value depends upon who can grab the most high-visibility bugs to fix. Engineers compete for top hero spot. Will backstab to get out of responsibility for bugs, failures, crappy architectural decisions, etc. Not a lot of depth to the backend team, so architecture is crappy. Actual development tickets get less attention than the dumpster-fire-of-the-day issues. Endless weekly architecture/bug discussions, rehashing the same stuff from week to week. Not much actually happens, unless it's to address one of the weekly dumpster fires.

Pros: If you are looking for a stable paycheck and don't mind navigating a toxic environment, you might survive here. There are people here who do literally nothing, it would take a lot to get fired.

Cons: Leadership has fostered a toxic, highly political work culture where theatrics and politics are favored over actual technical deliverables. The engineering organization is filled with egomaniacs who would gladly let the product burn rather than admit they were wrong or accept a better solution. Because of widespread technical incompetence, the day-to-day reality is a never-ending stream of bugs and production fires. This constant firefighting makes it impossible to get ahead. Meetings have devolved into nothing more than performative arenas for people to try to one-up each other.

Pros: The company has incredible culture, technical problems, and leadership.

Cons: They're a startup - gotta keep moving!