Pros
Very smart engineers to work with and learn from. The company started with vision for highly disruptive technology on top of Hadoop. The engineering team executes really well on this vision. The company has pivoted over the last year from enterprise software stack to open core software stack. The enterprise sales approach did not seem to work very well. The company realized that open source is the way to go, and that Apex being a superior technology will gain adoption while we just have to grow awareness and educate potential customers on Apex architecture. This has been working really well and we have seen tremendous growth for Apex. Apparently, the product has more adoption this way than the traditional enterprise sales approach. Unfortunately, a few people who did not believe in the new approach left. This transition was therefore chaotic but I believe every early stage startup goes through some chaos before gaining traction. The business team is almost rebuilding itself with people who believe in the open source vision. It is a great time to join DataTorrent and be a part of the rapid growth for Apex and DataTorrent. The company pays well and provides free daily lunch and snacks. It also has 100% paid health insurance plans. It provides unlimited vacation and has good work/life balance. Management is transparent and has open floor workplace. The management is open to feedback as well. Also the company is constantly iterating and building processes. So there is plenty of opportunity to lead and shape the company in whatever role you are in.
Cons
Career growth is something that needs to be negotiated for. It takes time to convince the management that you can contribute in functional areas other than what you have been hired for. The management is transparent in the sense that you can go and ask questions anytime and get answers. But proactive communication from management about strategic decisions is a bit lacking.