Pros: I've been in the software development industry for ~10 years now, having worked the past 3 here at Kong. I love the work I do and the products we create, but more than anything I love the culture and sense of community here. I've been here during the gravy chain period and through the tough parts more recently due to the economy (which was handled with solemnity, respect, and compassion), but I'm grateful to be able to say that I always felt like Kong cared about its employees (myself included). Prior to working at Kong, I worked at a tech giant for 7 years. I learned a lot, but my mental health suffered from being just another number, feeling underused and undervalued. Coming to Kong was life changing for me. My opinions are valued here - and even if people don't agree with my view, I have no doubt that I was at least heard and my opinion was taken into consideration. My contributions are noticed and acknowledged. It's more than that though, Kong makes me feel "safe". I never have to worry about being made to feel ignorant or small. I normally wouldn't bother saying this, but after seeing the mentions about "bullying" and "boys clubs" in other posts, I'm going to straight out say I'm female and part of the LGBT+ community and I have never witnessed a single instance of bullying or bias. Kong is extremely inclusive to people from all different backgrounds - I don't know what the other posters have experienced, but I have not seen ANYTHING but acceptance and people willing to bend over backwards to make sure they haven't offended anyone. When I need help, I can confidently reach out to any other Konger and ask them for help and know I'll be treated with respect and kindness; and this reaches all the way from the newest new hire to the oldest OG Konger who was still around when it was called Mashape. That culture is hugely important to me and the company recognizes its value and works hard to protect it. I'm part of the interview flow for a few different teams and I've seen plenty of very intelligent, hard working applicants passed over because there was concern about how it would affect the team's synergy or if they would be able to truly embrace the GRUCEO values and to me that says a lot about management. It's not just about the bottom line, it's about the happiness and productivity of each existing employee too. Beyond culture, I can confidently say that I've learned more working here at Kong in 3 years than I did the entire 7 years that I worked at the tech giant. Kong moves fast and there are always opportunities to grow and spread into new areas of interest. The theme for 2023 was Accelerate and we've been taking on more big projects more quickly, we're a fail fast company, but despite the speed we move at I always feel proud of the product we turn out - we don't sacrifice quality. All in all, I am passionate about Kong and the values it stands for and I'm proud to be a Konger. I care about my work, about the commitments our team makes, how the product I work on reflects on Kong, and how our customers benefit from our products. The only thing I could say about the tech giant was that I was loyal and dedicated to turning out a solid product due to my own standards - there was no passion.

Cons: There are difficulties that come from having such a large number of employees working remotely. I feel like there are places to improve on our remote culture - ways to make employees feel more connected to each other. This isn't a problem unique to Kong, best practices are still being figured out.

Pros: A lot of things are happening and there are many opportunities to learn new technologies. It is also very nice to have the opportunity to contribute back to the Open Source community.

Cons: The bar is quite high.

Pros: It is a great product built by an amazing engineering team. There are supportive peers that are willing to take time out of their day to help you on any issues with the code base.

Cons: Lack of support for folks within. Other companies offer employees compensation for setting up remote offices. Kong offers nothing. Benefits are lackluster and declining. As mentioned in an earlier review, political posturing is rampant on the executive level. For an early stage company, this is a red flag. Their egotistic management style force teams to focus on short-term goals, setting many of them up for failure in the long haul. We saw an exodus of great talent during these COVID months to companies with better pay and culture.