Pros
Trying to turn a multi-billion dollar market (education) on its head with new age training and access to industry specific events. Some really awesome people to work with (for the most part). Awesome partners like IBM and Google For Entrepreneurs give access to some cool events. Yes education in its current form is broken and Galvanize is TRYING to change that. I hope we are successful in doing so.
Cons
In trying to disrupt the EDU industry, the current revenue model has not proved itself to be successful. They will keep stuffing the classes with more and more people in an effort to get into the black financially and in turn will not hire the appropriate staff in order to accommodate the influx of new students. I agree with all the negative sentiment others have shared. With any startup there is ambiguity and there certainly is a lot within Galvanize. They think just b/c they invest heavily in their physical footprint (ie. campuses and buildings) that people will flock there to work, to learn, and to host events. They also don't like to use the terms "coding school" or "co-working", but we are indeed just that; a co working space + coding school + event production company. We're doing a lot and not doing one of those things perfectly so it raises a lot of red flags. Culturally, its not a great place to work. Our esteemed leader uses profanity regularly (in meetings / 1-1 / and at company events) without regard for its impact on others, which in turn creates an uninviting space to work. The leadership team as a whole is not very approachable and is totally a "boys club" as others have mentioned. Employees are entitled and some that know the founders and/or have been there since the start have been getting promotions and pay increases that aren't necessarily warranted or based on performance. There is a huge pay disparity across the company and based on what people actually do there. Thats another thing, know one knows what anyone else does, and in turn creates conflict, tension, and a lot of (heard it through the grapevine type) chatter within the company. It's sort of like working in a professional high school, if that makes any sense. The majority of the company is very young, being between 22-30. Very few have management or leadership experience which is a big issue as well. No one to look up to or be mentored by. There aren't any real perks at the company which you would expect from a startup. No catered meals, no equity (yet), no working from home, strict vacation policy, no company outings, not enough space for employees to work, don't know what ergonomics even means. All in all, lots of things that need changing.