Tough environment, tough business, tough industry
Pros
Lots of work to do and tons of projects means great work experience and exposure to technologies and systems design. Personnel are competent, intelligent, and experienced.
Cons
Extremely challenging work environment because of intense pressure to grow a struggling business that finds itself in a challenging industry and market context. Lots of turnover including business people (sales for example), project managers and other developers, making delivering finished work from start to finish difficult. *Significantly* under-market compensation in multiple dimensions including lack of 401(k), uncompetitive salaries, minimal stock or equity, and no annual bonus (except in some cases for selective employees, in which case the bonus is small). Very little joy in the work people do at TradeBlock - feels like a typically rigid and buttoned-up finance shop without the perk of good compensation.