Pros
The engineering team that I worked with on a daily basis was extremely smart and collaborative. We also had the opportunity to work with many emerging technologies in software development and we were constantly pushing to use better and newer technologies or frameworks. It is a great environment to learn and take ownership of new skills if you are willing to put in the work and time.
Cons
Compensation and benefits are not competitive compared to industry standards. Management is too focused on output and not focused on the employee and this leads to a very poor work-life balance. I was working 60+ hours a week for over a year straight, this included many late nights or weekends working on "mission-critical" features or issues, only to find out later that the necessity of the work was relatively minor. There was no value given to the employee's personal time, the product was the first and only thought and this would often lead to internal conflicts. This was an extremely common conversation I would have with my peers and was one of the biggest issues faced for me and my peers while working at Vydia. The HR department is extremely lacking, there is a focus on the bigger picture in terms of the company as a whole, but the individual employee has few resources. My yearly review was done over three months late, and after negotiating a raise it took many more months to get the raise finalized. Over 6 months after I was due for a salary increase I finally started to get the paycheck. I was promised back pay during the entire process, but I was never provided with the missing payments. I do not believe this was done with malicious intent, but the management failed to communicate with each other and showed a lack of competency. I had direct contact with my immediate manager or my department manager almost every week about this issue, and nothing was ever done. There was no prioritization of my needs as a valued employee. Considering the hours and effort I gave to the company, this was extremely demotivating.