Pros
To be honest I've been very confused about recent negative reviews about Merge's culture. I've been at Merge for ~2 years, and only have wonderful things to say about the culture. Sure, expectations are high, but everyone is extremely kind, intelligent, and driven. For the most part employees love working here and with each other - we often attend non-work events together (picnics, dinners, parties, festivals, etc.) and even go on international trips with each other (just last month a group spent their PTO together in Colombia, and a large group of Mergies also went to Honduras for another Mergie's wedding last year!). Out of the first 10 employees, 7 are still with Merge (over 3 years later!), which is incredible tenure for an early-stage start-up. I believe this is a testament to both the culture and the awesome opportunities Merge creates for its high-performing employees Note that one of the recent reviews also states that the C-suite brings up negative glassdoor reviews to the company as a scare tactic - I can categorically say that this is untrue. I have never heard the C-suite mention this during my time at Merge.
Kontras
It's a growth stage start-up so can sometimes feel a little chaotic, but if you've worked at other early-stage start-ups you know that that's normal and necessary to move fast enough to succeed. I don't find this to be a con, but expectations are high - this is a performance-driven culture, which is not for everyone. If you're excited about the prospect of challenging and improving yourself amongst a group of fun, smart and driven individuals then this is a wonderful place to work and learn! If you tend to care less about your work or are looking to coast, then I would look elsewhere.