Rubrik

1. Good amount of work where you can learn like any start up in valley
2. Lots of positive energy
3. Invests a lot of in branding and marketing which I hope will help us with a better IPO
4. Unless there is a screw up or market down trend, I expect them to be successful for few year at least
5. Free food and snacks

1. Pay and stock options are not to Silicon Valley standards.

I made a mistake by discussing my current compensation, where I had taken a pay cut as I was in a startup and they low-balled.

I negotiated for a while, but they had explanations like, "If we go beyond this, you will be above our current employees, and we can't do that."

But after getting the offer, I realized that's not the case.

1. There is truth to being partial to Google/Facebook/Stanford.

I have experience where an internally referred resume, with a strong recommendation of a new grad with 5 years of experience, was not moving forward because they were not from Stanford or a top tier university.

There are still claims of mostly ex-Google/Facebook employees in marketing materials. This was true with the founding team, but I'm sure it is diluted now.

1. Respect people from all backgrounds. Smart people are beyond ex-employers and alumni.

2. Pay people right. However confidential it may be, these things get out, and you are going to make employees unhappy, which is detrimental.