Vantaggi
Smart Wires Inc. is a San Francisco-based startup making inroads into the electric utility and green energy markets. Smart Wires is uniquely positioned in this market and has tremendous potential, with its forward-looking management team and patient investor group doing everything they can to allow the company to revolutionize the industry. Regarding the day-to-day life: the culture instilled by management at the R&D facility that I work out of is amazing. Team-work, cooperation, and camaraderie are everywhere. The normal heated technical and scheduling debates that accompany a research setting are always cordial in nature at Smart Wires, and rarely, if ever, result in long-term hurt feelings or lingering animosity.This is a great group to work with and learn from - everyone is helpful and days are typically fun and productive. And as the company grows, the management team has made it clear that it is a top priority of theirs to keep this culture intact. Technically speaking, Smart Wires is very open to innovation and new ideas. In terms of hardware development, project management techniques, and company culture, Smart Wires has demonstrated an ability to move fast and evolve quickly in an attempt to disrupt our market. All core ideas and ideologies are up for debate and new ideas and perspectives are always welcome; and while they don't always pan out, a few have led to a big breakthroughs for us over the past year. Smart Wires is a great opportunity if your end goals are to make a lasting impact on the world's climate/energy crisis and to work in a place where you can push your boundaries, learn, and grow.
Svantaggi
Like a lot of startups - deadlines are frequent and schedules are aggressive. This leads to hours becoming long when a difficult milestone approaches. And because management is purposefully selective and thorough during the hiring process, help has typically always arrived a bit later than when it was needed. Note though that this was as of Q3 2015. Additionally, the company is growing rapidly, which opens the door to the month-to-month work experience changing dramatically. Over the two years I've been here, R&D has more than quadrupled in size. Work structures and facilities have been slow in catching up with the expanded population leading to some disorganization, redundant efforts, etc. I am hoping the company's organizational structure becomes better at adapting to its rapidly changing size going forward.