Rippling

The mission is ambitious. If Rippling accomplishes what it wants, it will easily shift the GDP of the world. It's extremely execution-focused, and the results are highly tangible. This gives high confidence in the equity part of our compensation. There might not be a surprise 100x upside, but you can easily see the value created every day.

Even in a competitive market (over a dozen competitors), I see it as the inevitable market leader, going up against legacy Workday. Even before joining, we ran our startup on Rippling because it was the obvious choice.

Coming as part of an acquihire in a similar space, I found the pace of work to be just as fast as a startup, with almost as much autonomy.

The senior leadership is fiercely intelligent and appropriately involved in the trenches to unblock. It's a fairly flat org, despite the size of the company. Even as an IC, be prepared to work directly with C-level execs.

This company is a dictatorship, but one that is run by a product and execution genius. You may not agree with his decisions, but I've learned a lot from working with him, and he corrects quickly when presented with good evidence. He is low ego and just wants the best idea to win. I much prefer this to a leadership by committee I've seen at other companies.

• Pace can be grueling at times. However, you will not be alone. The whole company, including the execs, will be there to support you and unblock.

• This ruthless prioritization does mean some projects get cut, and you may get pulled into projects at the last minute to help out. It's a highly dynamic environment, but if you roll with it, it can be very rewarding.

• The company is merit-focused, not interested in building a "family." The social Slack channels are pretty inactive. We're here to work. If you do not perform, you will be asked to leave. And the bar is pretty high.

• The company runs lean. This includes the benefits. We have not had much team travel or budget for team outings. The upside to this is the company's balance sheet is incredibly healthy and ready for the public markets.