Pros
- People: You get to work with incredibly smart people - many of these are amongst the best in what they do: Art / UX / Engineering / Marketing / etc. Lunch-time conversations are often very intellectually stimulating. - Complex Problems: The company is tackling some of the most technologically complex problems at planet scale. You feel inspired in company-wide meetings listen to some of the other team members showcase their work. - Mission Driven: The notion of getting more people exploring, exercising and connecting with other people in the real world is taken very seriously. This comes up in feature discussions, product review conversations, marketing updates, etc. - Excellent office and culture: The Niantic SF office is amongst the best I've ever seen. Hard to beat the Ferry Building as a working location. Excellent benefits and great food. - Making an impact: While the company is growing, it's still small. I feel that many initiatives I drive have a tangible impact on the business and it's awesome to have that feedback loop to learn from and continue to grow. - Growth: I've been at Niantic for a few years now and have stuck because I've learnt a ton and continue to. This company has created the genre of "Real world games" and has learned a ton about managing these types of experiences across all verticals - software, marketing, UI/UX, operations, events, etc. There's tons of opportunity to do more and lots of lessons to be learned along the way.
Cons
Work-life balance: While the company does a good job of advocating work life balance, I often find myself working late nights and on weekends - in some cases because there's a ton to get done and in other cases because someone might be waiting on my feedback on a certain matter. Personally, I don't mind this a lot, because I enjoy what I do, but being addicted to email will come in the way of life or relationships. I think the management team can better counsel the company on being more mindful and unplug more.
