Pros: I was completely integrated into a team at HubSpot. I was able to work out of the same job board that the other developers were working on and directly impact the projects and goals the team had.

Cons: I was the only intern on my team, and the issues that I was working on were independent projects. On top of this, the internship was remote, so it consisted of me working independently without much communication with others for the majority of the internship.

Pros: What companies call "culture" is really about norms. Norms cause people who otherwise might act differently to act in a way that the norms encourage. The norms at HubSpot are to make people feel welcome and supported, to assume best intent, and to be patient and solicitous in helping people grow and learn. One of the most impressive things is that the management relationship is not the kind that makes you feel watched or judged. Managers seem to go out of their way, whether or not sacrifices are necessary, to make sure that you feel comfortable, are not stressed, and most importantly, are growing in your role and toward your next promotion. Tech-wise, I have been extremely impressed with the platform tooling at HubSpot. It always "just works." I would even put it in contrast with a lot of commercial cloud computing software for its reliability, ease of use, and overall reasonableness. And the people who build and maintain it are always solicitous with their assistance if you're having trouble.

Cons: HubSpot's systems have grown very rapidly, and they are now quite complex. In some areas, there are archeological layers of legacy stuff that has to be understood and worked with, but could and probably should be much simpler. Also associated with the level of growth is a possible lag in onboarding. Currently, there is a quick burst of onboarding on some basic tools like Maven and our deployment platform. But after that, you are kind of on your own to acquaint yourself with the intricate and often unintuitive product-specific systems that you need to work with. Under the banner of autonomy, engineers are expected to drive the rest of the process by asking questions and giving feedback on how they are doing. For various reasons, I think that kind of guidance should be more structured and should mostly come from others, not be solicited by the new hire. Another recent hire and I were talking about this recently, and a choice line was, "It's hard when the onus is on you to connect, and you're new so you don't necessarily know what to say, but you have a nagging sense that you need some guidance."

Pros: HubSpot has a great engineering culture. There is a strong platform for engineers to focus on building great software instead of infrastructure. The heavy investment in the platform team makes HubSpot a joy to work for. HubSpot also has talented engineers who are patient and willing to mentor. I've been impressed with the breadth and depth of work HubSpot engineers have mastered.

Cons: It doesn't always feel like there's strong buy-in on getting a project across the finish line, which leads to some project churn.