Rokt

It's not all bad, and a few of the good things are below. The people make the place, but also:

• Salary
• Stock options
• Perks
• Lunches
• Travel
• Interesting technical problems

Rokt is very material-focused and seems to reward well materially. The more human rewards (like trust and autonomy) are less important.

Rokt is the kind of place that calls itself a "high performance workplace". Anyone who's been at this a while knows that is code for high pressure, overworking, and sacrificing your work-life balance to get deliverables out the door.

This isn't inherently bad; after all, this is a startup, and Rokt offers you a share in their success, so there is a strong incentive to push the envelope.

The issue is that Rokt does not like to give back in a non-material way. Decisions made above us are ironclad, non-negotiable, and the effort required by individuals to influence change is enormous, yet seldom effective.

You'll see technical decisions made by often a single person at the top against the guidance of the engineers. You'll also see company policy decisions where protest is ignored.

As individuals, we have limited creative freedom, minimal autonomy, and are responsible for the subsequent platform instability.

Progress is generally slow due to high levels of micromanagement, ever-changing priorities, and a constant stream of meetings. We definitely don't have the agility or pace of a startup.

If you're looking for a place where you get a great work-life balance, have stimulating technical discussions with peers, innovate, enjoy remote working options, and a reliable platform – you should keep looking.

Rokt is more like a Silicon Valley startup. You get here, do your time, get your shares, and leave. Probably better off being here than missing out, but damn, as someone who loves software engineering, I've never had a job make it feel so unenjoyable.

Management already knows best...