Pros
Camera IQ had (emphasis on HAD) put together a dream team of developers, an excellent designer, and a passionate CTO. When I joined, the team was primed and ready for new direction - very quickly I realized how invested every single person on the engineering team was in making Camera IQ successful. The technical capabilities, amazing personalities, and relentless diligence of engineering and design made the initial experience working here one of the highlights of my career. Despite the cons, which are numerous and devastating, this pro made it worth the pain in the end.
Cons
Distilled into a single word: MANAGEMENT. This company was started haphazardly by a CEO who I would equate to Elizabeth Holmes from Theranos infamy. CIQ is lucky that she was never given the bloated valuation that Theranos attained, and that CIQ isn't involved in advancing tech for the health industry - with the level of mismanagement in Camera IQ, people would have most certainly died. It became very clear, very quickly, that management didn't regard the engineering team very highly, despite the self-evident skills they contained. They look at engineering as a FUNCTION of their company, rather than the CENTRAL FACET of what they are trying to build. You will hear the CEO wax poetic about very lofty ideals - however, once you start paying attention to their words, you realize they are just another charlatan in a sea of floundering entrepreneurs who don't really understand what innovation is. They create flimsy AR filters for companies that don't know better. Their success is predicated upon the lack of understanding these companies have about the AR space - once folks start catching up, their days will be numbered. They refuse to hold themselves accountable for their failures in management; they are unable to be forthright and transparent; and they keep around a useless CPO whose middle name might as well be "scope creep" with how often he provides half-baked requirements that evolve into huge features that he doesn't take the slightest responsibility for. Their COO? No one can actually pinpoint what contributions they make to the company, besides adding more confusion and bad will with engineering. Essentially the whole C-level is basically a D-level if we're looking at this from a grading perspective. Despite building a SaaS product, they hire more non-technical roles than engineers. Why? Because they don't have an actual understanding of what it takes to build a good product. Enough investor money has been sunk into this pet project for these undeserving egoists. I pray someone pulls the plug soon and lets what little engineering talent they have left be free to pursue roles that will enable them to grow and have a regular work-life balance. Oh and also, their CEO has basically never had a real job until this startup CEO role, so you really see how seriously they take it - particularly when telling employees very personal things that she has no business communicating. They also thought playing Eminem's "Lose Yourself" while rapping to it and crying was a great way to build excitement for the future. It is basically like being in un-aired episodes of Silicon Valley.. I've met mannequins more inspiring.