Pros
I started out as an IC, gradually taking on more leadership roles. Joined when the company was < 10 people and still working on the prototype. Now we have 30+ people on the team and made over 20M deposits in production.
- Lots of opportunities to learn! The fact that the team is small means that you get to touch many different aspects of the technical stack. During my time here I have worked on motion planning, control, perception, platform, cloud, front-end… It really helped me build a great understanding of how the many components fit together as a robotic system, which helped me become a better engineer.
- Beyond technical things I’ve also learned a lot about just how a company is built. Throughout my time here I’ve helped with project management, marketing, fundraising, and even a little product work. The company is very transparent with everything business side - business development, customer engagement, investor relations, market conditions, etc., so everyone gets the opportunity to learn about these and chime in.
- The team is passionate, authentic, and exciting to work with. The company works hard to maintain a culture of radical transparency and meritocracy. This means new ideas are always encouraged and valued, no matter who proposed it. This also means we give feedback to each other all the time which fosters trust and camaraderie. Many of the skills I have learned here have not only made me a better engineer and project lead, but also benefited my life outside of work.
- For a roboticist there’s nothing more exciting than seeing your work making real world impact in people’s lives, especially for me who had previously worked on self-driving cars. When I walk into the grocery store every week I’d point out to friends which ones are done by the robots. This never gets old :)
Cons
- There were definitely hard times when the economy was bad and nothing seemed to work. What helped was that the team knew how to keep it fun even during the most stressful times - such as our ever-growing custom Slack emoji library. But it still took me a lot to push through.
- The team is small which means engineers do need to go onsite from time to time, especially for new deployments. Arguably you learn a lot by being close to the customer, but it could get inefficient sometimes.
- Office location isn’t the best. (last I heard we are actively searching for a new office…)
