After the Kool-aid wears off - Product Designer Reaktor Employee Review

I've worked at Reaktor (NYC) for just over a month - so I've been around long enough to sweat the Kool-aid out of my system, but not long enough for a sense of deep loyalty to set in. Here is the straight and skinny about this place. First, Reaktor is a deeply Finnish company in many ways and is why I chose to come here. WTF does that mean? 1. Small Talk - I found this wildly refreshing from the typical company experience of a lot of pontification over execution. The Finn's are comfortable with silence. At first, it's uncomfortable, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate the respect for the need to focus. Moreso, I respect the direct conversations that don't come infused with personal or emotional undertones. People here mean what they say and say what they mean. 2. World Class - The talent here is world class sans the ego. Everyone is either senior or a remarkably adaptive learner. At first I was intimidated by the talent around me, but that quickly faded due to the lack of ego and hierarchy. There is no one here trying to use anyone else to climb professionally or politically, it's just not a part of the culture. The result is a culture that promotes authenticity, collaboration, and support. 3. Autonomy - Okay, you'll see this repeatedly come up in other reviews. And like most american's I looked at their company values and About Page and was like "wow, cool concept, but not practical". Like I said, I am a month into it here at Reaktor, and this another core value of the company is real. I have been waiting every day for someone to come up behind me and in a Dr. Evil voice say "Ha. Ha. Ha. We have you now, that was all a lie. Here are the unspoken rules of Reaktor." So what does Autonomy look like? It means that if you work here, there is a simple principle in which everything is predicated on - "We trust you." From your expense report, to your working hours, to your choice of tech, to how you manage your project / client, to emptying the coffee grounds after you make your afternoon espresso. 4. Work-life Balance - when I interviewed here, I picked up on a repeated emphasis on the people and their wellness. This European ideal in the US, especially in NYC, sounds mythical, like taming a liger. I fully expected 60+hr work weeks, weekends, and late nights. So this is where stuff gets freaky...the expectations here are defined by you and your team. And your personal time is protected not just by you, but by others. You don't get messages / emails / texts / slacks / etc late at night or on the weekends. Honestly, its uncomfortable at first. Eventually, you start to grasp this concept of having time to do things for yourself and/or your family/friend.