Ike Reviews

Pros

Felt like you were apart of a real community. Made life-long career connections. Everything you dream a start-up to be. Working on real-life problems, with mentors who actually care about you.

Cons

Not one I can think of

Pros

Good culture, cares about employee's well being

Cons

Can't think of any cons

Pros

The real rating is more like 4.5 stars, since nothing is actually perfect. * Great opportunity to work alongside an incredibly talented team. Many have deep experience in the field of autonomous vehicles, while others bring experience from elsewhere. * The work is challenging and relevant to our current times with competition from some very big companies, yet Ike has still distinguished itself with a focus on long-term thinking and development. * Compensation is competitive, at least for a start-up, without needing to account for equity. * Leadership is very introspective and honest about shortcomings. They seem committed to soliciting honest feedback from the team and using that to address shortcomings.

Cons

I'll list some cons for balance, while noting that leadership has actively recognized all of these issues and is working to correct them (see Pro above). * There is some tendency toward information silos, and lack of transparency in decision making. This has been amplified by work-from-home. * Ike is committed to long-term thinking and building things right the first time. This has worked out very well, however it can mean long stretches of time without seeing a meaningful impact from your work. This can be challenging for morale when expectations are not communicated well. * There's a lack of clarity on career growth within the company, in terms of what opportunities are available and how to pursue them.

Pros

- The alignment across the whole team is astounding. We all know what we're building and why it matters. This makes work really fun because we're all rowing in the same direction. - The people at Ike genuinely care about each other and have lots of respect for one another. Meetings often start with quick catch-ups or fun banter. - Many of the employees are experts in their respective fields, which makes Ike a great place to learn and grow. People are very generous with knowledge.

Cons

- Progress might sometimes feel too slow for some folks, since Ike takes a very long term view and celebrates incremental progress on goals over quick hacky demos.

Pros

Teams are bursting with talent and capability without sacrificing inclusive mentalities. Leadership regularly demonstrate how they care about ikons and our culture by creating and acting on a strategy/roadmap catered to what we need as a company in the present and future, with structured and informal opportunities for feedback. Best I've seen in 15+ years in industry by a great margin. There are so many puns built into the working norms of this company.

Cons

Work/life balance for people associated with supporting the fleet can be nonexistent at times, and this burden is allocated to only a few people, who are also leading design efforts.

Pros

+Culture around having laser sharp focus to solve the many not-trivial technical problems + Encourages work/life balance, supports personal and professional growth + Co-workers are easily to get a hold of (esp during remote work due to COVID) and have a genuine interest in getting to know everyone + Transparency in corporate decision making is a huge plus so you know where the ship is going even if you aren't steering + A focus on Diversity and Inclusion from early on

Cons

- A long haul experience, the fruits of your labor won't be realized until later down the line (and that isn't for everyone but if it isn't a bummer for you, then Ike is a great place to be)

Pros

A focused and continual effort to : +deepen and broaden the diverse experiences and backgrounds of the team +provide employees with the work/life balance they need, especially in COVID + Fires +be family friendly - lots of support and understanding for those with new challenges on the home front; partners welcome at all Ike functions +create trust and psychological safety that is pervasive and starts on day 1

Cons

Ike is still a startup which means: -resource constraints for nonessential items / tasks (no barista) -career progression is not regimented - no set corporate ladder to climb -a consistent and demanding pace for continuous improvement and progress Many see these as pro's, myself included, but these can be a barrier for some and an adjustment.

Pros

Everyone is extremely enthusiastic and invested in the product which really makes you feel that you are working on something valuable, the leadership is great at planning ambitious but achievable goals, there is a lot of cross-functional work so you get good exposure. Above all, Ike cares a great deal about their employees and have addressed the challenges of remote working very well. This combination of work + culture is hard to find anywhere else!!

Cons

No major cons so far. Being a startup, there are a lot of things to work on which can be over-whelming at times (but then is also exciting)

Pros

- Fun, diverse & professional team. Wonderful group of people with wide range of experience and backgrounds. - Laser focussed on the product. Long term planning with stable goals and objectives. No short term distractions or shortcuts. - Healthy respect for the magnitude of the challenge of automating trucking. - High engineering quality - Systems engineering driven development at the core since the start and embraced by all . Amazing place to be as a systems engineer.

Cons

Pressure can be high at times.

Pros

I've worked for a few companies focused on self-driving. A common approach is to focus on short-term demos for investors, which gives the appearance of progress but actually results in a lot of tech debt. Ike focused on the right things first: system and validation in order to guarantee safety, infrastructure to enable scaling, simulation ... all alongside and equally important as autonomy. This has give Ike a very strong foundation and path forward.

Cons

Smaller company means fewer resources, but more opportunities for ownership.