Pros
I was previously at Facebook where I worked on large scale systems before joining Sigma in 2021 without having prior start-up experience. It was intimidating and I didn't know if I wanted to leave a large comfortable company to build something new with ~150 other employees. Overall it was probably the most rewarding experience I've had in my career thus far. - Lots of mentors and people willing to help. No one from my experience is left on an island as long as they proactively engage in discourse and ASK for help. Everyone is always willing to help, it is just very difficult to expect it to happen organically without asking since teammates are heads down. - Feedback is always given as long as it's asked for, everyone is transparent about what is given. As a result I've grown a lot while being here because it allows you to push for growth in the areas where other's see gaps, they will also help support you in many ways. - Fun and dynamic work. There are a ton of problems to solve and it's up to you to find them and also evangelize the scope and impact of solving a specific problem so you can work on it. - Internal Transferring is easy: There are always new problems to solve, switching teams is relatively easy, and I've also seen other teammates transitioning quite seamlessly. Retention is a priority for good employees here at Sigma. - The company, your manager, your coworkers, and the people around you are all growing WITH you. Everyone is dealing with these problems likely for the first time so you're not alone but also it will be hard to blame people from problems that they and you are encountering together for the first time. Overall I've gone quite close my coworkers here as a result of hurdling obstacles and tackling problems together -- it builds confidence in the ability to work as a team and that those around you aren't going to give up easily. Resilience and consistency is what will get the company to a successful exit and it's something many of the people here at Sigma have.
Cons
- Startups aren't easy and not everyone is fit for them but acknowledging that can be a difficulty in itself. They come with unique problems that are seemingly solved at other companies already but you're building the solutions from scratch. - One of the few things people don't really realize is how many challenging and hard problems there are to solve that large companies have already resolved years ago, but Sigma is facing for the first time. - Dynamic and always changing. The thing about startups is that priorities change according to business and other reliability needs that can ensure the company stays afloat. After all startups are about proving themselves to the rest of the market, the same way we join the workforce when we're young we also have to grind to prove ourselves.