KLA

Technologies used are interesting. There are a lot of top rate engineers with great ideas. Top management is good and asks a lot of great questions to middle management to make sure things are on track.

Lots of politics in upper middle management. Good ideas are often crushed by personalities backing pet projects or career advancement. Also there are divisions (not just product divisions) in the company where bad projects can hide out, wasting money and resources of the company. Maybe being able to sustain boondoggle projects for years and still be successful is a mark of a truly "great" company.

Continue to look for real opportunities for business development where IP edge can be truly owned and developed.

Beware of outsourcing engineering groups, and hold these groups close because good ideas are developed here.