MathWorks

MathWorks is a very successful company. Despite being very conservative from a management standpoint, it is still able to rake in boatloads of cash. That cash is then reinvested strategically in the business (facilities, new hires).

If you have initiative, you are encouraged to carve out your niche by working on side projects that you're interested in. Only one of my three objectives has anything to do with what I was originally hired for.

Open door policy: The culture encourages people to collaborate and get involved in others' projects. Information is freely dispersed throughout the whole company. This is such a refreshing change from working for public companies and the government.

The work/life balance is great, at least in my group.

Perks:

• Free breakfast, drinks, cookies
• Anniversary celebrations, winter celebration, summer outing, Sales Kickoff
• Facilities are great. Nearly all employees get offices.

Solid benefits:

• Health insurance, 401k match, group discounts.

• The review process is largely a waste of time. Your rating is decided (by consensus of the managers in your group) before your manager even starts writing your review.

You are asked to write a self-review, but your manager isn't even allowed to read it until your rating has been decided and your review has been written.

Since peer quotes are non-anonymous, they are mostly just employees scratching each other's backs without any honest feedback.

• Senior management can be out of touch with what customers really want. Product decisions are made based on what is the "next big thing" or what Jack thinks sounds cool, without any customer demand backing it up.

Yeah, MATLAB Mobile is a great idea - too bad you can't actually do anything useful with it.

These projects are then pushed out at the expense of other projects (things that customers actually want) that have been languishing for years.

• Cliques have formed of people who have been at MW for decades. They are quick to close ranks whenever they feel threatened by newcomers.

• The previous two bullets, plus the fact that MATLAB doesn't have significant competition, mean that there are few consequences for failure. There are no "feature deadlines" at MW.

If a true competitor emerged, MW would struggle to compete with this mindset.

Listen to what your customers want.

Development should focus all of its efforts on those projects which will have the most impact on our customers, with clear deadlines and consequences for failure.