4.5
82% would recommend to a friend
55% positive business outlook
Pros
Really strong culture. The Zaarly team are incredibly smart people who know how to work hard and play hard. It's so rare to find a group committed to transparency and doing big things with a small team.
Cons
Because the company is so small and pre-profit, pay isn't super competitive, but I think it was worth the trade-off.
Pros
Great place to work, great people
Cons
There are no cons, I have zero negative to say.
Pros
Zaarly was (and still is) full of great, friendly people. The senior management suite in particular is unusually mature for a startup. The CEO (Bo) and CFO (Clay) are both approachable, reasonable people. If you're an engineer, the CTO (Chase) is an excellent manager who cares about his team. Chase ensures solid work-life balance (40 hours per week, no overtime, no static for requesting PTO). He also cares about the tech. You won't get to use React, but Rails and third-party libraries are kept on the latest version. Code quality is excellent, with thorough code reviews, unit testing, and integration testing. There is CI/CD. The engineering team is universally friendly and inclusive. Diversity is not just lip-service at Zaarly. Turnover is low, with the average tenure at 2+ years. The SDLC, Shape Up, is not unreasonable. Estimates aren't as political/stressful here as they are on average. Every 6 weeks there is a 2 week 'cool down' where you get to work on your own pet projects (like Google's 20% time). You can work remotely and set your own hours as long as you attend meetings. The company flew everyone to Kansas City once a quarter before the pandemic. Medical premiums are reasonable, ~$600/month for families. 401k is offered. Compensation is in line with the market if you AGGRESSIVELY negotiate.
Cons
The company was facing financial issues even before COVID-19, which have only been exacerbated; it's a home services marketplace and no one wants service providers in their home. It's not even venture-backed anymore. All VC funding has been spent and the company is back to being FFF funded (friends, family, and fools). The CEO/CFO are personally bankrolling the company, which they aren't transparent about. Financial reports have disappeared from the monthly all-hands. The company is perpetually 'a few months' away from going under. The engineering team has not been insulated from this uncertainty. People have been let go (including a founding member with 8+ years tenure). Raises have dried up and senior engineers are being replaced with fresh college grads. Benefits have been slashed; if you live outside the midwest, Humana medical isn't wildly accepted. According to multiple pharmacists, it's the worst insurance they've ever dealt with. Dental/Vision are in a network no one's ever heard of. There's no 401k match. You need to AGGRESSIVELY negotiate initial compensation. There is a 50%+ difference in compensation between the engineers who believe the line 'this is already more than we pay any other engineer' and those who don't. Once you've accepted a salary, it's locked-in beyond an annual 4-5k raise. There is absolutely no autonomy. You will be assigned tasks and will be expected to complete them within an (honestly reasonable) timeframe, ad nauseam. This does not lead to any career opportunities.
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