Pros
I've had the opportunity to join FishingBooker when we were a group of 5 hyped startupers in a 90 square meter apartment in New Belgrade. Now, I'm working in a 100 person company in a 1000 square meter office building. It took 5 years to get here and the best part is - this is just the beginning. We had a lot of ups and downs in building the company the way it is now. From operational challenges, scale management, people management to revenue streams. But what FishingBooker is today can be described like this: 1. We are normal and down to earth. That might not seem like a huge benefit, but it is the essence of every other advantage we have as a business. What does this mean? This means that this is not a Wolf of Wall Street set up with crazy parties and Leo Dicaprio giving speeches (even though we do party pretty good). This is not Silicon Valley with millions flying around our heads and VCs popping out of the fridge. We are just...chill, focused but still productive and motivated to do our jobs the best way we can. 2. Relationships are healthy, because the company is healthy. I've had the opportunity to work in environments with damaged interpersonal relationships full of egomaniacs. This ain't one. Our orientation towards goals, OKRs and progress is structured in a way that unites us to grow, not to compete with each other and poison the environment. 3. You can make a difference with a single suggestion/post. The way the company is set up allows anyone to influence the company decisions and directions in a very easy way. If you have an idea and it makes sense and is argumented well, no one is going to block you. This is actually how the majority of good ideas and initiatives happen in FishingBooker. We managed to keep the same agility and idea flow we had with 10 people at 100 people scale. 4. There's 100 very smart brains close to you. This might be pretentious, but we do have a very specific hiring process. We would rather not make a hire then make a wrong hire that feels wrong. The output of this is that we managed to acquire the top tier of people from various industries (engineering, design, content, marketing...) and fill our office with some very smart and capable people who are willing to share their knowledge with you. Who would'n want to be in that environment? :) Overall, what makes me happy is our constant pursuit for better in every aspect. From better chairs to use in the office to better songs at our Karaoke parties :) We're always striving for growth and within that process, you grow as well. Both professionally and personally.
Cons
Well those 5 years until we got here were not easy - that's for sure! :) But I'd like to focus on the present moment, not the past. Being very growth oriented and bootstrapped means that you will lack focus on some other areas that are important to people. That is a conscious and necessary decision that reflects with: 1. Higher pressure to achieve measurable goals/performance. This is a relative con as very often I see it as a benefit that pushes me to develop. But, in some situations and for some people that are looking for a spot in the comfort zone, this is a negative trigger. I'm not going to lie that I didn't had some crisis and moments when I wish we can just cool off with growth and stabilize. But that is just my natural impulse that wants me to go back to the safe zone. If you are looking for a 9-5 company were you can be in your comfort bubble and be a C-player, this is not the place for you. 2. Some things are still undefined or poorly defined. For newbies, especially people joining from bigger companies and corporations, it might be strange that we lack some basic procedures like assisting in arranging business trips, an official tagline for our business and better defined (and visible) mission and vision statements etc. The company is working on it. It is just that there's a gap between implementation and the current state. 3. As a dog owner, I am very disappointed with working in a building that is not pet friendly. I feel the company did not stand out for me to implement that rule and persuade the building managers to allow it. That causes a lot of stress for me because I have to leave my dog alone at home and improvise with asking people to take care of her or occasionally drive back home to take her for a walk. I even come to the office later than I would like to because I don't want to leave my dog alone for 8 hours. It would all be easier if we are in a pet friendly office and I feel it is a standard in most of the companies and office buildings.