Vantaggi
Technology of course. Down to earth people( not the management ) around who are highly technically equipped. Passion for work among the employees. 'On the face' , 'no beating around the bush' communication from employees. Personal little office. Good compensation. Assignment of responsibilities without thinking much about if the employee is ready yet or not. This is positive for me since it makes you believe that they believe in you and you would want to keep to the reputation. Good location, work from home, stock options, stock purchase plan, tt table, flexible time work are other handy benefits. Colleagues are very helpful.
Svantaggi
Technical Managers at one extreme and People managers at the other. What is needed is something in between. Not much communication between manager and the employee. Work pressure just too much at times and nothing at all other times. If there is a personal issue when there is too much work, you better forget the personal issue. You wouldn have room to breathe when there is much work ( generally just before the release times). You are lucky if you have a personal issue when there is no work. You tend to get so lazy during these times that its difficult to get back to work ( transition difficult :) )