Vantaggi
In the before times, Fireside was a close-knit group with a singular mission - to support the product used by their only customer (the US House). Collaboration was tight; retention was good enough; profit was at least breaking even; bureaucracy was little. Teleworking was supported well before the pandemic. They only had one customer (US House), but this provided stability, albeit limited revenue. We all liked each other so much that we were even able to weather the storm of the ousting of the CEO. Attendance at "fun events" was typically high. Salaries were good enough to keep most people around. Benefits were average. We worked hard and supported each other.
Svantaggi
New business had become stagnant. Many clients left for greener grass. Then, in early 2021, the company was sold, a surprise to all staff but the owner and one other. The new owner is a place called "FiscalNote". The transition was handled quite poorly. Many saw it as a cash grab and a selling out of the old culture/family. Very few questions had answers. Meanwhile, FiscalNote is still flailing/struggling to smoothly integrate Fireside into their goulash of products and other acquisitions. Many departments of FiscalNote feel unfinished, understaffed, or improvised, contributing to more uncertainty. Ultimately this led to a number of resignations. Very little institutional knowledge from 2 years ago remains in Fireside. Adding to uncertainty is an initiative to create new products for entirely new sectors in an insanely fast timeline, during a time in which we're all struggling to to just keep the ship from sinking due to sudden lack of talent (and lack of any replacements for them) and buildup of confusion brought on by the new parent. Conflict of interest may arise, as an IPO of the parent company is almost certainly on the horizon.