Pros
The thing I love most about Aula is the incredible commitment to feedback. I've seen a lot of companies "talk the talk" about being "feedback-driven" but I've never seen it so baked into how a company operates. On day 1 I was receiving and giving feedback. After week 1 the CEO of Aula sat me down and asked me how my first week could have been better. I told him what was excellent and what wasn't. The next morning he shared with me a list of all of my feedback and action points that he will take to ensure the next employee has an even better experience than me. I also love that people at Aula see feedback as a gift. I've given and received hundreds of points of feedback and when I give feedback, it's not taken personally or defensively; rather, my colleagues respond with empathy and a commitment to improvement. The feedback given to me has never once made me uncomfortable and has always come from a place of care. Another pro of Aula is that the quality of the people here is extraordinary. I'm amazed every day at the intellectual capacity and business savviness of my colleagues, a lot of whom have rejected offers at McKinsey, Google [insert prestigious company], but have decided to spend their time trying to solve a problem that is hugely motivating and inspiring to all of us. Finally, the culture of Aula is something like I've never seen before. A huge amount of thought is put into the way we speak to each other, how we can be as inclusive as possible in our language and behaviours, how we can show love and care for each other - the list goes on. For the first time in my life, I genuinely feel like I'm working with a family of people who genuinely care about one-another both personally and professionally. I'm yet to hear of or experience any "office politics" (to be fair, we don't really have an office!), and to be honest the commitment to honesty and transparency means that that kind of thing is so unlikely to occur. Ultimately, you kind of have to be here to experience it, but working at Aula is quite magical.
Cons
Aula is a fast-growing start-up. That means that things move quickly and things change fast. I don't think this is a negative thing about Aula, but it definitely took me some time (coming from a non-start-up background) to adjust to the pace of change. I'd say that if you're not looking for somewhere to work that is constantly pushing you to re-think your approach and fundamentals, then Aula isn't the place for you. Aula isn't a 9 - 5 job. The problem we're trying to solve is tough and it takes hard work. Having said that, I've never felt an expectation to work long hours, and our recent decision to go fully "remote" allows people the flexibility to work when we want and where we want - if you need to pick up and drop off the kids in the morning and afternoon, then you can absolutely do that!