Pros
Amplify is using cutting edge technology to build innovative web- and mobile-based products designed to comprehensively bring the K-12 classroom experience online for teachers and students. Waking up to go to work is simply a different experience when you're excited about your company's mission. That your teammates are just as excited make even the craziest days worthwhile. While we are growing aggressively, we are still at a size where each employee can see their contribution and how it affects the work we do as a company. That's a great feeling. It's widely believed that, when technology for 'a good cause', it probably suffers for lack of funding, or innovation, or creativity. Not so, here. We are an Agile shop, utilizing best practices with a focus on rapid deployment, and we are constantly researching new technologies. Even the brightest and most experienced technologists will find new challenges to work on and new tools to use.
Cons
Amplify is made up of three divisions - two start-ups and one legacy from the acquisition of another company - spread over two main offices (and a few remote development offices). Not shockingly, this has created a few cultural divides which we're continuously working to overcome. Employees should be excited about their division, but there should also be a wider understanding of how we're all building something larger than the sum of our parts. It would be good to see cross-divisional projects. (Perhaps a pilot in which the Access tablet is loaded with Learning software to run a classroom?) From an internal organization / bureaucracy perspective, we are in the unusual position of needing to both build (efficient, streamlined practices) and shave away (the cumbersome, process-heavy ones). A challenge, to be sure, but also a great opportunity to realign our substantial resources to better produce an innovative culture as well as innovative products.
