Pros
* Company's product fills a critical need in the market. Backtrace is only two years old and the list of clients includes Nvidia, Comcast, and Fast.ly. Also two other huge tech companies I can't name without getting fired; their names start with letter A.
* Startup with real revenues from real customers.
* Technical challenges are hard.
* There is a so much to learn and it is straightforward to take on more responsibilities. You can take on as much as you can handle.
Kontras
* Work is demanding. Problems are hard, and we move fast. I have only worked for one other startup, and that one was more demanding, still...
* Co-founders are not experienced managers and they are learning on the job. They got some people management stuff wrong early on but are paying a lot more attention to defining clear goals, performance management, and communications. I have seen a lot of improvement.
* Not enough positive feedback from the top. Co-founders do talk about successes like winning Amazon's contract (huge!) but they often just want to jump to the next challenge. I do get that they want to satisfy the investors, but sometimes I think a keg party would be a nice touch :-).