LinkedIn

So, there's the obvious stuff: tons of high-quality free food and beverages, excellent compensation, great benefits, etc. Let's get to the more interesting (and really, more important) stuff.

• Pretty much everyone around is a friendly, down-to-earth human being. I feel like I can talk to my manager openly and frankly without any BS. That's the biggest perk in the world. VP level and above regularly interact with individual contributors. While there is a hierarchy of authority, I honestly feel like the management above is there to help me when I need it, not to dictate to me and abuse my work ethic.

• Besides the free food, there are lots of nice little company-sponsored events and things that happen. You can get professional development training easily. Your work schedule is generally pretty flexible. There are lots of little things like this that add up to really make you feel like LinkedIn actually gives a **** about its employees and doesn't just view them as automatons to work until they burn out.

• The pinball machines, arcade games, and ping pong tables are nice, but the real key is that people actually play them. I've worked at startups where they had games like this, but everyone was always too busy working themselves into the ground to ever actually use them. If my boss walks past me playing pinball in the middle of the day, neither of us is going to think twice about it.

• Despite the fun atmosphere, we do work hard, and in general, everyone is passionate about the work they do. This can lead to long hours for some, but in my experience thus far, long hours are something chosen on an individual basis. It isn't expected of you, nor are you looked down upon if you take care of your work and leave the office at 5.

Despite the great culture, there are still a few individuals who are difficult to work with -- the same you'd find at any company.

I'd say percentage-wise, there's far less of them at LinkedIn than I have seen other places, but they're still there, standing in the way of progress or taking shortcuts or any of those things that aren't constructive.

My impression is that work-life balance can vary highly between teams. I've had a good experience, but I think there are others for whom it's a little more of a struggle.

I'd only say to make sure that, as the company continues to grow rapidly, you keep the quality bar for incoming people high.

But really, you've already managed to keep a fun, productive start-up culture past 5,000 employees. I think you know what you're doing.