Zendesk

Zendesk resembles the "medium place" with an average tech stack, moderate compensation, median projects, and mediocre management.

This is actually a reasonable strategy. If you can't compete on prestige and won't compete on compensation, then this approach provides a comfortable spot for developers burnt out by bad practices in other companies to rest and recuperate for a while before moving on. The company has grown and matured post-IPO into a successful, stable, bland, big org. So, while there's not too much that's exciting, there's also not too much that's concerning.

Pros:

• Work-life balance is good, as there's no urgency to deliver projects on time (or at all).

Going the extra mile is not rewarded.

Zendesk has never understood how to run or reward innovative technical features. At best, you'll get slightly more than someone who coasted.