Pros
Positive mission (making financial progress possible for everyone) is genuinely supported by the C-level executive team. I really do feel like I'm working at a company that helps people. Ken Lin is an excellent CEO with the vision to keep CK growing. The work is challenging and interesting, I have experienced a lot of professional growth during my time at CK. Many companies of CK's size require a long commute down the Peninsula or to the South Bay, but HQ is right downtown next to multiple transit options. You can even bike to work (there's a bike room and showers). Beautiful office with free (Eat Club) lunch if you have a meeting during the lunch hour. Perks like a coffee bar, massages, mani-pedis, yoga classes, and social events.
Cons
Unevenness in promotions. Type-A self-promoters who play politics rise quickly, while those who focus on quietly turning out good work and helping people across the company make progress on less high-status initiatives will find themselves rising slowly, if at all. Certain execs are permitted to tyrannize not only people within their own working group, but across the company. They bark orders, demand constant attention, and insist that employees treat their pet projects as the #1 priority, encouraging them to de-prioritize projects for other execs. Luckily, they’re in the minority, and as long as you don’t work in their group you should be fine. Meeting-heavy culture sucks up too much time. My presence is frequently demanded at hour-long, weekly recurring meetings, for months, called solely to move someone’s pet project along. 30 to 60 minute meetings are scheduled for conversations that could have been resolved over email. Face time is good but there are only so many hours in the day. Typical Silicon Valley “open office“ seating cuts productivity with noise and distraction, and good luck finding a place to make a phone call or have a quick discussion you don’t want overheard by 10 people.