Pros: Lots of action in all areas of the business: engineering/design, growth, marketing, operations. There really aren't any sleepy corners in the company, and there is always tons to do. There is no pointless busywork; everything you build is shipped immediately. It's easy to make an impact. The culture is very hands-on, and if something interests you in particular, you have a chance to step up and just do it. Things are still quite open with not a lot of gatekeeping. Horizontal career shifts happen, and folks have considerable success after switching tracks. * Lots of talented and ambitious people. * Remote-first culture from day one. * Very driven leadership team. Confidence in leadership is high and has been since the day I joined. * Very good benefits for full-time employees. * Fun and engaging company offsites, great interpersonal culture.

Cons: - Politics and cliquishness. There are several distinct sub-cultures within the org, mostly based on people's previous employer. As you can imagine, it takes political effort to overcome people's natural tendency to stick with their old teammates. Not dramatically bad but something to keep in mind and work on. - Tech stack is a bit haphazard given the rapid growth in business and headcount. It's constantly improving but there is a lot of baggage deep in the core. - Depending on your team, work culture and work/life balance can vary. The company prioritizes work/life balance policies but some teams just have a lot more on their hands due to the subject matter they operate with.

Pros: A friendly environment to work and learn for any beginner.

Cons: The whatnot company has no cons.

Pros: * A solid set of very smart, very motivated people. * A focus on getting things done while maintaining a life outside of work. * The users love the product, which is motivating. * Tons of opportunity to learn new tech and grow/have a real impact. * Top-level leadership has been very approachable, genuine, and relatable.

Cons: Joining a new company can always feel like a roll of the dice. So far, there hasn't been any landmines I've run into. Whatnot moves fast, but the work is fun and the people are motivated. This is my first startup, so I imagine it can be much worse at other companies that are still running to find their place in the market. The onboarding process was honestly the best I've experienced in the industry, and overall, docs, code quality, and the CI process are really good. I kinda assumed a startup would always be really rough because it's hyper-focused on growth, but Whatnot seems to understand that quality is important to keeping users happy and still moving fast. It still is a startup. So, if you really don't like ambiguity or creating something entirely new, this probably isn't the best place for you. But that's probably the case with every startup.