Pros: Patreon has a great mission, and many people there are incredibly dedicated to it. It could be a genuinely inspiring place to work at times. The codebase was even clean and pleasant to work in! I learned a ton, and for most of my tenure, I felt supported and appreciated.

Cons: Sometime in 2018, leadership started making really odd decisions, and they haven't stopped. There have been sudden firings, constant thrash on strategy and reporting structure, and vague explanations as to why any of it was happening. It is not a safe or comfortable place to work anymore. Good talent is leaving in droves, and the organization is steadily losing diversity. It's incredibly depressing to watch.

Pros: Amazing creative energy permeates the entire company. People make art and music, write, draw, dance, stream, and create. Many did so professionally before working at Patreon, and some continue those careers alongside. If you're the creative type, there's nothing else like working here. Following from that: a real commitment to creators. Many of us here have friends who rely on Patreon for a living, and others know first-hand what it was like to do so, so we understand the responsibility that working here entails. Well-built and maintained development tools exist in some areas, especially for a startup. Need to reproduce a bug reported by a creator? Impersonate them on prod without the risk of affecting their data. Want to canary a change before committing? A simple Slack command.

Cons: Patreon feels like a much larger and much older software company than it actually is. There is so much legacy code, and inertia against new patterns/architecture leads to straightforward (on the surface) projects becoming bogged down by too many stakeholders. Your ability to get things done hinges on the influence that your EM or Director has in the overall org. Diversity and inclusion is talked about a lot and often feels like second nature (and there's no song and dance about it, pun intended). But all the work done in ERGs is done by the people affected, with very little systemic support and no appetite by management to actually make big changes. If you're in an under-represented group (like I am), be prepared to do all the labor yourself while leadership pats itself on the back about how great the DEI culture is. Overuse of in-house code that nobody really understands for functionality that could be easily accomplished using open-source libraries. This is a legacy problem that's changing, but not quickly (see inertia above). If TDD or anything testing-heavy is in your development style, you're unfortunately going to have a bad time.

Pros: Insanely good culture. These folks have nailed it. I feel sincerely cared for, encouraged, welcomed, and part of the family. The mission is really great, and you can feel a buzz of positive energy in every person that works here. Company leadership is remarkably transparent and cares deeply about leading a mission-driven organization in support of the creative class. Creators from the platform often visit the office and share their projects, which makes one feel the impact of our work directly. Frequent jam sessions bring the team together around shared musical interests, and the whole company just feels like an awesome family.

Cons: No 401k matching, like many other companies I've worked for, but this is to be expected from an earlier-stage company. Also, no gym membership was provided, although it was advertised in the job description. Not really much to complain about.