Rivian

I have been at Rivian for around one year, and it feels like a lifetime given how things have changed and how the company has grown.

Rivian has been one of the most enjoyable experiences so far. The culture here goes beyond a set of buzzwords that you would find in other companies (here called Compass values). There are a lot of smart and truly passionate people who do not hesitate to roll up their sleeves and come together to get things done and deliver the best product. RJ comes across as a genuine person and is very approachable.

The leadership are not isolated in a tower and are close to the engineers on the ground, and involved in the execution details. The company has taken risks to build an internal technology solution from a clean sheet. This is paying off and enabling the engineering teams to move much faster than other Automotive OEMs.

The job requires a lot of commitment, and you need to be able to deal with frequently changing directions. The processes here are sometimes immature. But this is also part of the fun experience of being at a growing start-up, and the company provides an environment where you can voice your feedback and help improve things.

The pay is good and rather in-line with other tech companies. However, there are no equity refreshers and there are some restrictive conditions with the RSU grants. In general, there's very little communication on the company valuation or the IPO target date, which is unfortunate.

As the company is growing, culture is sometimes changing. Some charters sometimes become blurry, and some teams end up doing similar things. This is part of the challenges of growing, and I hope RJ and the leadership will address that.