Pros
I've been at Airts since before we had a name for the product, and the Co-founders technically didn't have desks. Airts is a Scots word for direction, and the only way this company is going is forwards. Straight out of Uni fresh-faced and without a grey hair in my beard, I had no idea the journey on which I was about to embark. It's been one of immense excitement, of challenges, of good times, and many hard (but rewarding) times. Most of all, it's been a journey of learning. Airts isn't a place you work; it's a place you learn and create. It's a place you care about the team because they care about you. This company wants to succeed, and the way it does that is by helping the team members succeed. It's a start-up, so we've got all the usual stuff: beer fridge, pizza days, artisan coffee, a choir who sings Toto Africa exclusively (though I did recently take part in a rendition of 'The Hills are Alive'), flexible work hours, casual clothes, and frequent fun events. The team at Airts has struck a brilliant mix of providing structure, choice, opportunity, and fun. It's grown from 4 people to 24 people in my time here. We've moved office five times. There's been so much potential for that brilliant mix to split and go sour, and it's only gotten better. It's fantastic, and even the Co-founders have desks now. Other cool things: - £1000 training budget. - £1500 referral bonus. - Free subscription to the Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme. - City Centre Location. - Thirty-three days holiday a year. - Sean Connery accents so good it's like he's in the room.
Cons
Of course, we've had teething problems. You couldn't grow as fast as we have without a few. One of the big ones would have to be the delay in firming up our processes. We work with big clients with high expectations that we've always aimed to blow out of the water. By in large, we've managed to do that, but we don't always record the steps to get there to make it easily repeatable. Our vision is to eliminate wasted effort, and our product does that in spades for our clients. However, we've had to swallow a few tough pills to appreciate that that vision must also apply to how we work ourselves. It's getting easier though, we've been careful to hire for the right roles, with each helping to firm up processes to make them work effectively and most importantly, be repeatable. If you're looking for a company that's got all its ducks in a row, Airts isn't it just yet. If you're looking for a company that's almost there and needs a few more people to muck in and get it there - and importantly you want that opportunity - then it almost certainly is.