It's really up to you whether it's your heaven or your hell
Pros
- the product is exciting and amazing, the company's success has been overwhelming so far; - steep learning curve and mostly knowledgeable, talented and work-driven coworkers. In dev, QA & design positions you have to either be your best self or catch up pretty fast, otherwise there's a chance you'd be fired; - this company looks pretty good on resume, plenty of startups and beyond will want you due to Revolut's fame of hard-working culture; - great freedom in expressing yourself, choice of technology and ability to make a direct impact on the product; - I really believe that the higher management cares about the product a lot, it's just they have such strong opinions on some of the processes that they're having a hard time finding a balance between being successful enterpreneurs / strong leaders and employers who care about and listen to their people. Also, not everyone agrees with them, but at least they are being brutally honest with other people instead of tiptoeing around - this is a skill I personally admire; - if you're interested not only in your field of expertise, but in other parts of the product and the bigger structure, you will be encouraged to explore and contribute; - great London accommodation, and with the new office it's even better!
Cons
- yes, work-life balance is not good, but hardly anyone makes you work overtime. If you're really good at what you do and achieve tangible results, you can work usual hours. The other deal is that it takes a really strong, self-confident person immune to peer pressure to do that. I feel like overtime is appropriate at a company like that, but some people may burn out without realizing it; - Revolut's moral compass is certainly off. I've seen very talented people who were told they are worthless and "can't make anything good" just to trigger them to outdo themselves. The culture of being arrogant and supersmart is cultivated so heavily here that the majority seems to have forgotten that only a combination of people with very different skills (some visionaries, some hard-workers, some detail-oriented and some just very loyal) can create a good and complete project; - teamwork is not particularly encouraged, instead people are seen as self-sufficient units. For some of them, it works amazing, because they truly are. But some people here still require mentoring, discipline and a helping hand most of all, and can jeopardize the outcome of projects; - with being a startup, especially at this pace, comes lack of structure and chaos. Here, I think, having so many strong personalities on the team bites the management in the back. The lack of structure is not for the lack of trying, it's because a lot of people here believe it's their opinion that is right and refuse to compromise. Any agreements or possible solutions are criticized and ridiculed (externally or internally), and the chaos endures.
