Vantaggi
There are many things I could say about this company but the one thing I think I should call out is the founder. Ray Hicks may be the most inspiring person I have ever met. The challenging part of the company for me was simply all the employee B.S. and back stabbing. There are a handful of guys there that do NOTHING but ride Ray's coattails. I would work for Ray any time, anywhere, period. Nobody spends the time to register for access and write up a rant about a founder at a company unless they need to deflect blame to someone else. 5thColumn has more potential every day and with the addition of new senior / tenured leadership to help drive the business, I have heard Ray has senior talent around him now that is capable of executing his vision.
Svantaggi
This is not your typical startup. 5thColumn was bootstrapped and organically funded for years before taking any capital and has limited the capital it has brought in to date. This is an adjustment for most Chicago tech workers. The biggest challenge working at 5thColumn was all the employee scheming behind the scenes and what appears to be the forced employment of dead weight people who contribute zero to the organization.