Roku

1. First and foremost: GREAT people! Not only are Roku people fun to work with, but I've also been privileged to work with some of the most intelligent, thoughtful people in the tech field.

2. Compensation: Roku definitely pays at the top of the scale, and reviews this on a regular basis to ensure they keep the best minds in the industry.

3. Freedom to be productive: Most managers at Roku respect your ability and integrity to produce (those who don't generally aren't around long).

4. Extracurricular: Fun activities, both formal (company initiated) and employee activities. Not to mention, unlimited PTO (as long as you produce and have your projects up to date).

1. Frenetic pace! This isn't in itself a bad thing; it just takes some adjustment if you come from a slower-moving company. I know well-qualified former colleagues who I distinctly avoided steering to Roku, knowing they couldn't keep up.

2. High expectations. To quote the VP who hired me, "We hire for production and we fire for production." Again, you better be ready to run.

3. Work/Life balance. The company honestly tries to provide such an environment, but due to resource demands, can fall into sustained periods of excessive loading on individuals.

4. The occasional bad (counterproductive) manager (the "Date-driven Pencil-pusher"). There can be a tendency for some to become so focused on the pace of deadlines that they micromanage to the extent they actually impair progress. Again, they don't usually last long.

Roku would be wise to instill some form of anonymous review and/or feedback process, such as peer reviews or "360" reviews (assessment of managers by non-management personnel, not limited to direct reports).