When it comes down to how mission-driven a company truly is, there’s arguably no better litmus test than a pandemic. At mediation platform Headspace, Engineering Manager Jeannie Nguyen believes her team has passed with flying colors.
“When you take a look at the projects that we’ve taken on recently, it’s about addressing the problems people are facing in their real lives, like anxiety about the pandemic, over-worked healthcare workers and unemployment,” Nguyen said.
She and the following LA-based professionals, all of whom work at businesses that are on the lookout for qualified talent, explain how company core values are reflected internally as well.
For Well Health Software Engineer Anav Sanghvi, a passion for healthcare translates to a better user experience.
“Every department in our company is passionate about making patient communication easier and helping healthcare providers build better patient relationships,” Sanghvi said.
Working to streamline marketing, transportation and healthcare is often rigorous. But according to these software engineers, directors of product and people team managers, it’s well worth it.
What they do: MediaAlpha is a marketing technology company that connects advertisers with buyers who are ready to purchase through a real-time bidding platform.
MediaAlpha’s company culture in one word: Curious. “We demonstrate a desire to constantly learn, improve and iterate what we offer the market,” Rasho said. “We’re curious about each other as people,” she added. “We know who roots for which teams, who coaches baseball, who enjoys refinishing furniture as a hobby, who’s a foodie, who’s in the market for a new bicycle, etc.”
The coolest project Rasho has worked on recently: The re-launch of their company website. “This was the first time I was able to build something almost from scratch and influence it end to end — the look, the platform, the structure and the story,” Rasho said. “I think it’s given us a nice, new foundation upon which to present ourselves. There’s still a lot of work to do to build it out, but we’re in a good place to move forward.”
What they do: Well Health is a communication platform that allows patients to text, email or chat with a healthcare organization. It sends out appointment reminders and helps users check insurance eligibility.
Well Health’s company culture in one word: Passionate. “Every department in our company is passionate about making patient communication easier and helping healthcare providers build better patient relationships,” Sanghvi said. “Well’s engineering team worked tirelessly to build out telehealth links integration into our automated messaging system to improve our clients’ telehealth workflows,” he added.
The coolest project Sanghvi’s worked on recently: Building a referral management module that allows healthcare systems to automate their referral workflow. “Incorporating a new healthcare module into our current automation engine was the most fun part,” Sanghvi said. “I also learned how to build a system that facilitates the bidirectional flow of healthcare data.”
What they do: Apeel Sciences is a food preservation organization that helps reduce global food waste. The team uses plant-derived protection to slow water loss in produce and keep it from spoiling.
Apeel Sciences company culture in one word: Innovative. “At Apeel, we are pioneers of new technology,” Bi said. “We venture into new disciplines with new ways of thinking,” she added. “We are here to challenge the status quo.”
The coolest project Bi’s worked on recently: Launching their first engagement survey. “Capturing the larger team’s sentiment on our culture has been really meaningful,” Bi said. “I have learned so much in the process, from survey design to data analytics.”
What they do: Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported, streaming television service.
Pluto TV’s company culture in one word: Collaborative. “The way we came together as a whole and supported not just the organization but each other during these times exemplifies Pluto TV’s core values,” Head of People Sheela Abdi said.
The coolest project Abdi’s worked on recently: Helping existing staff adjust to remote work while onboarding new hires. “The impact of COVID-19 affected the way we work across multiple areas of the business,” Abdi said. “In a matter of hours, we had to strategically plan how we were going to transition to a remote workspace, access equipment for software and QA testing, onboard team members and deliver devices to new hires.” She and her team sent all employees a quarantine care package, including Pluto TV branded puzzles, a coloring book, branded masks, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer and a postcard from their CEO.
What they do: Dray Alliance connects shippers with networks of carriers that specialize in transportation over a short distance, with a focus on port and rail moves.
Dray Alliance’s company culture in one word: Passionate. “Our engineers are not only strong coders but also brilliant problem solvers,” Cui said. “We have productive and intense debates,” he added. Because developers are in close contact with their peers on the product and business team, they are able to clearly understand the problems at hand.
The coolest project Cui’s worked on recently: An application that allows their customers to get real-time status updates for deliveries. “The team learned a lot architecting this system to make it maintainable,” Cui said. “The challenges included the variety of data sources and a complex array of potential statuses and triggers for those statuses,” he added. It’s a continuously evolving system, which is made up of data points that the team has streamlined into statuses that anyone can understand. As a result, customers can better transform their operations.
What they do: Headspace offers users with guided meditations in tandem with animations, videos and articles for various occasions and purposes.
Headspace’s company culture in one word: Mission-driven. “People whole-heartedly believe that the work is worthwhile,” Nguyen said. Take, for example, the recent re-haul of content discovery, which resulted in many lively discussions. “Everyone genuinely cares about the quality of work and the value we produce for members,” Nguyen added.
Professional growth opportunities: When she first joined Headspace about a year and a half ago, Nguyen had just made the bump to senior software engineer. Today, she’s a tech lead and engineering manager.
“Titles aside, I’ve experienced an incredible amount of growth here, both professional and personal,” Nguyen said. “I’ve seen my team through quite a few large, impactful but complicated projects in that short time span,” she added. Her biggest takeaway? “Authenticity and empathy are superpowers in the world of tech.”
What they do: AuditBoard is a SaaS company that helps enterprises identify and manage risk.
AuditBoard’s company culture in one word: Welcoming. “Our teammates, regardless of position and department, truly demonstrate what being ‘about the assist’ means,” Serrano said. “There is such a warm, home-like vibe,” she added.
Professional growth opportunities: In the time she’s been at AuditBoard, Serrano has seen the company grow from 17 employees to 230 and 75 clients to more than 800. “The rapid growth of AuditBoard has given me the opportunity to play an instrumental role in developing processes and infrastructure that make up our support model,” she said.
What they do: Virgin Hyperloop is a transportation company that commercializes high-speed technology for travel. It’s owned by Virgin and can propel passenger or cargo pods ten times faster than traditional rail.
Virgin Hyperloop’s company culture in one word: Connection. “As a company that’s entire premise is to help connect people faster, more efficiently and with an environmentally conscious mindset, connection touches everything for me,” Sowards said. “This is a place that has purpose, and you feel that every day,” he added.
The coolest project Sowards has worked on recently: Building out the embedded systems team. “When I first started here, there were only a few individuals on the embedded team,” Sowards said. “We looked to essentially hire the entire team.” A year and a half later, they’ve done just that. “I take pride in all the times I’ve been told how crazy it is that we’ve built a team that gets along so well,” he added.
What they do: SimplePractice gives health professionals a platform to streamline their private practice with tools like automated insurance and billing and intake notes and documentation resources.
SimplePractice’s company culture in one word: Engaged. “No one has to wait to make a difference for our customers,” Asami said. “If they see a need, they take initiative and make things happen.”
Recently, for example, she and a member of the customer success team created an interactive quick start guide. It utilized SimplePratice’s design and customer knowledge skills and improved the company’s onboarding flow.
Professional growth opportunities: “This is the first job where I feel challenged, excited and passionate about the mission,” Asami said. Since joining, she’s had a hand in blog management, copyediting, email management and web design.
“I’ve learned how to be a designer holistically –– to understand the full context of what is needed instead of waiting for a boss to tell me what to do,” she said. “Although the learning curve was difficult, I always appreciated that a lot was asked of me,” she added.
What they do: GOAT is an e-commerce platform for sneakers, apparel and accessories.
GOAT’s company culture in one word: Pragmatic. This year alone, GOAT engineers have completed projects from scratch and balanced technical fulfillment with product asks. “We can deliver MVPs on tight deadlines to validate a business idea,” Staff Engineer Kevan Carstensen said.
Professional development opportunities: In the last few years, GOAT has grown dramatically, according to Carstensen. “That growth has created opportunities for me to develop valuable skills that aren’t directly related to coding, like supporting other engineers, helping to guide multi-team initiatives to completion, working with non-engineering stakeholders, etc,” he said.
What they do: As a direct-to-consumer marketing brand, Golden Hippo helps build health, beauty and pet care brands.
Golden Hippo’s company culture in one word: Accountability. “Golden Hippo gives you the autonomy to make your best contribution to the company, while also holding your work accountable through data,” Ridgill said. “Compared to companies I’ve worked for in the past, the reliance on hard data to evaluate performance helps take the guesswork out of knowing where you and where your work stands.”
Professional growth opportunities: “I have to say, the biggest area of growth I’ve seen is in the quality of my writing,” Ridgill said. “Coming from a vastly different writing background, I was initially intimidated by the style of writing we use. Now, I’ve not only become more comfortable with it, but I’ve also seen a dramatic improvement in my writing across the board.”
What they do: Scopely is an entertainment and mobile games company. They offer users digital access to Scrabble, Yahtzee and Wheel of Fortune, among others.
Scopely’s company culture in one word: Swift. “We’ve been intentional about building a lean and sustainable organization that is nimble to market fluctuations,” Dokun said. As a centralized team that supports multiple game studios across the globe, their effectiveness depends on their ability to operate organically and creatively in an environment that fosters continuous improvement.
The coolest project Dokun has worked on recently: Building proprietary software that will differentiate their ad monetization engine and ecosystem. Throughout her software development career, she has abided by a quote by Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
What they do: dot818 is a performance marketing company that provides advertisers with technical outreach solutions and helps publishers improve key metrics with account management assistance.
Dot818’s company culture in one word: Engaging. Working across departments on multiple projects, Mosinyan said she learns something new every day. “I am able to step out of my comfort zone and expand my skill set,” Mosinyan said.
Professional growth opportunities: In the last seven months, Mosinyan has learned about SEO, data analytics and AI. “It is a unique environment for me as a writer, who is usually involved in more artistic fields of work,” Mosinyan said. “Working with data scientists and content developers has not only exposed me to new subjects, but it has also helped me to expand my skill set and gain insight into the world of fintech and data science.”
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