Nvidia

Unbeatably the best work culture, and most of the people you work with are super nice.

A very open, collaborative environment where you can reach out literally to anybody (including the CEO) and get help. The CEO reads status emails and engages in discussions with the teams about product directions and strategies (this is in the AV org, not sure about others).

I love the idea of a workstream (virtual team) that can quickly summon people across the org; I haven't seen this type of thing in other companies.

I am a senior software developer with 22 years in the Valley and have worked at a few companies here, and I can compare. NVIDIA is the best without any doubt.

Benefits are mostly fine, with very good health insurance choices and some perks, but don't expect a lot. The new building was nice, but it felt unfinished, and any improvements take a long time.

NVIDIA generally has less office politics than I've seen in other companies (though it still exists and is frustrating).

The 2016-2018 stock run-up was nice. I didn't make a lot of money, but still, I can't complain.

A lot of your personal experience may depend on the team you join. There are absolutely horrible teams to work in (avoid IPP at all costs!), but there are also the greatest and brightest teams.

I did an internal transfer from an okay team to a much better team (the transfer process was smooth and everyone was supportive). To compare, my RSU increased more than 2x, with better WLB; I got much, much more interesting projects and the brightest minds to work with. So, a lot depends on the manager and the team.

Growth for senior engineers like myself is really, really not what it should be.

RSU grants (vest over 4 years) are calculated as a % of your salary. Depending on your rating, you get from 0% to 50%. You get rated:

• NI (Need Improvement)
• FC (Full Contributor) with 2 categories (A and B)
• TC (Top Contributor), again with A and B.

So, TC-A gets 50% of salary in RSU grants. This is the absolute top compensation bump you could achieve, no matter how brilliant you are or how big an impact you make.

I think the other scale is FC-B gets 20%, FC-A 30%, and TC-B 40%. NI gets 0%.

Let's say you're a senior making $200K/year. If you're TC-A, like myself, it means you get $100K in RSU over 4 years, or $25K per year. After a couple of cycles (2 years), you'll realize it's really not worth all the effort and hard work for just an extra 10% of salary. Stock can grow, of course, but stock can also fall.

Endeavor building was not planned well. There's not enough bathroom capacity for the number of occupants, and people end up waiting for 10-15 minutes just to use a bathroom. I really don't know what to say here.

Parking situation is horrendous, again due to bad facility planning. If you come to work at 11 AM or later, forget about finding parking. Valet will be full, and you end up parking illegally in a neighbor's parking lot. You go to work and fear all day your car will get towed.

The CEO was asked this question. His answer was: "Don't come to work at 11." Yeah, but we still have our lives, doctor appointments, our kids, and loved ones, so it does happen sometimes I have to come to work later than usual.

Improve senior people's compensation – share the success of the company with the people who are behind this success.