Pros
can-do culture: not a lot of whining about the difficulty of challenges or changes in plans. Almost everybody just wants to get the work done. doesn't feel hierarchical: though org chart has ~5 levels, more-than-average autonomy is granted lower levels. implementation decisions and actions tend to happen quickly. sometimes strategic decisions take a while, however (not unusually long). Genuine enthusiasm for products: employees truly care about the appeal, utility, and quality of the products. Genuine appreciation for customers and community: getting customer feedback, good or bad, is important to almost everyone. Charitable activities are extremely well supported by execs and employees. Quality of colleagues: Pretty good overall. A few superstars, lots of strong not-quite-all-starts, very few losers. Nice people. Freedom to take initiative and take on new responsibilities: See a problem or opportunity that should be addressed, then make it yours! Very little territorial behavior.
Kontras
Most everything above average, no true downsides, just a few areas of mediocrity. Total compensation package isn't bad -- hey, this is an internet company in the Silicon Valley, after all -- but it's only average competitively. (If wages and options are so-so, at least the frills are better than average -- food, events, etc.) Some wastefulness due to legacy systems and processes in some departments. Some typical bottleneck/SPOF problems in engineering due to over-dependence on veteran programmers. Recent cost-cutting due to economic slowdown is perfectly reasonable, but sometimes not ideally even-handed. These imperfections, as a group, are far less serious than any prior employer in my 10 years of e-commerce experience.