SoundHound

1. Coworkers and culture. I can't speak for all departments, but the teams in which I've worked and most of the teams with which I've interacted (mostly Engineering and Product) are made up of talented, hard-working, and supportive people. They are what make it more than your average workplace; it's gratifying to get to work with them.

Great work/life balance. Once in a blue moon, I'll have to work more than 40 hours/week to finish something with a hard deadline (usually due to some external force) or to fix something that broke in production. However, it is very rare that I am asked to work long or odd hours, and it is almost never expected to happen. Everyone understands that life outside of work is more important than your job. I think management respects the fact that an employee who gets to enjoy their life outside of work is more productive than an overworked employee.

Flexible hours. I can work pretty much whichever hours are convenient for me as long as it doesn't affect the quality of my work or the work of others (e.g., missing meetings or working graveyard hours). I can show up to work "late" if I need to take my car to the mechanic, leave for an hour in the middle of the day to go to a doctor's appointment, or head out "early" for the weekend if I have a flight to catch. As long as I am getting my week's work done in some way or another.

Another nice thing is that they give me a decent amount of freedom in what I work on and how I work on it. There is no shortage of ideas for projects to work on, which means I often get to decide what it is that I want to do. Additionally, many of the projects I've worked on have very open-ended requirements, giving me most of the control and allowing me to build in whichever way I think is best.

There is a high bar to get in. This is a Pro because we don't have to waste time training people who lack necessary skills or dealing with people who have issues working with others. Occasionally, someone gets hired that doesn't fit quite right due to a lack of technical or personal skills, but they usually either leave on their own or get moved to a team or position that is more appropriate.

There is also a higher-than-average degree of loyalty. Some may see this as a Con since you might end up with an employee seen as underperforming, making the company seem like it is not operating optimally. However, it makes sense because: A. financially, it makes more sense to give an underperforming but promising employee a little push in the right direction than to deal with offloading tasks and onboarding someone completely new, and B. culturally, it is much better for company pride and morale to let employees focus more on doing our jobs correctly rather than looking over our shoulders wondering if we're going to be fired next.

Transparency. Every quarter, the CEO and other officers hold a company-wide meeting for all full-time employees to present updates on finances, products, the workplace, and the company as a whole. They take anonymous questions and suggestions for "employee of the month"-style appreciations. Additionally, the managers for the teams on which I've worked provide weekly updates on other teams and the company as a whole.

• Leading-edge speech and music technology.
• Sit/stand desks if needed.
• 15 days/year PTO.
• Unlimited sick days - great for keeping contagious people from infecting more employees.

Free lunch (Eat Club 3 days, rotating catering 2 days) has helped me save a lot of money over the years. Weekly happy hour. Company parties or events like "Summer Picnic" at Great America, Winter Holiday Party, Super Bowl and Grammys watch parties, Halloween, etc., and +1s are always welcome (and often kids too). Company-sponsored extracurricular activities if enough employees join.

The starting pay in the Silicon Valley office is not as competitive as other companies in the area.

If you're all about the money, there are plenty of soul-crushing jobs available elsewhere.

To me, the small sacrifice in pay is worth it for the environment I get to work in and coworkers I work with.

There are no bonuses, but I do a pretty good job, so my raises are pretty nice (10-15k/year).

Some engineering teams are working on/with technology that is brand new, proprietary, and/or very low-level.

This can make it a challenge for both new and experienced employees to feel like they are succeeding or performing optimally.

As a very documentation-oriented worker, it has been frustrating at times.

Most of the time, others are receptive to requests for help, though.

The benefits are probably mediocre.

Definitely better than nothing, but I am actually signed onto my wife's benefits because it worked out slightly better financially (stipend from SoundHound for waiving benefits > cost of adding me to my wife's plan).

Medical plans include:

• High-deductible HSA (free)
• PPO
• HMO (Kaiser)

There is a 401k program, but no 401k matching.

Let employees know that it is not only okay but beneficial to come to you with criticisms or other worries/concerns.

Most people come from places that are at best unreceptive or at worst hostile environments, and therefore would not be comfortable coming forward with this valuable information. Make sure they are aware that there won't be any adverse consequences for honesty.