The year 2023 hasn’t even reached its halfway mark, but it’s already solidified itself as a year Californians experienced the literal meaning of the phrase, “When it rains, it pours.”
Amid the torrential downpours of atmospheric rivers, historic blizzard warnings and unprecedented flooding, locals have been tasked with expecting the unexpected and adapting to an unfamiliar climate.
For LA tech professionals, the industry has presented its own unexpected challenges in the form of mass layoffs and a generally unsettled landscape — especially in tandem with the entertainment sector’s job cuts.
At the end of every downpour, though, there are blue skies.
LA’s tech scene is as expansive and diverse as the city itself. Companies like Thrive Market, Mothership and Cie offer enticing opportunities for professional growth and the opportunity to make an impact in a distinctive range of niches — from direct-to-consumer groceries to business-to-business freight logistics to venture capital labs.
These companies have a bright future ahead of them and are looking for talented new hires to help them advance their goals and missions. Current team members shared what drew them to their respective companies and what they’ve achieved during their tenure.
Venture studio Cie is an innovation lab and accelerator that is focused on launching new ventures and transforming existing businesses with entrepreneurs and corporate leaders.
Think back to first joining the team. What drew you to Cie? How have your expectations been met since coming aboard?
I was initially drawn to Cie by the chance to impact growth and success across multiple startups — what a great way to learn quickly and accelerate my career! The more I learned about the company, the more I was blown away by the executive team’s track record of success in building startups and accelerating growth at companies like eBay, Pepsi, StyleHaul and Nestle. However, what really stood out the most during the interview process was how incredibly smart yet down to earth everyone on the team was.
Soon after joining, I realized this is ingrained in Cie’s company culture. ‘Ego’ and ‘power struggles’ aren’t in the Cie vocabulary, which leads to a group of really talented people who are excited about working together to solve big problems and make the world a better place through our ventures.
My expectations have been exceeded in every way. Cie’s leadership cares about company success and prioritizes employee growth and development. I’ve already had many opportunities to take on new challenges and obtain valuable skills. I can confidently say I’m grateful to be here!
Cie’s team is a group of really talented people who are excited about working together to solve big problems and make the world a better place through our ventures.”
What’s been your biggest success story since joining the team?
The people team has made many meaningful changes that have led to a big impact. I would say the top three of these have been:
Firstly, building automation and AI into company processes, which has helped us innovate and scale faster. By using technology to streamline our workflows, we’ve got more time for creativity.
Secondly, researching and implementing new software that modernizes our people team’s tech stack and offers better employee experiences. By investing in technology that’s designed to enhance our employees’ time at work, we’ve seen improvements in engagement, growth and overall satisfaction.
And finally, forging close relationships with employees across all levels. By creating space for communication and building trust, we’ve been able to create a more inclusive environment where employees are listened to.
It’s been really rewarding to see these changes’ positive impact on our team so far!
Your company is currently hiring for a handful of roles. How can new hires make an immediate impact at Cie?
Our core values really are the blueprint for creating value at Cie and in our portfolio of startups.
Work smart: Don’t settle for inefficiency. Plan ahead and drive toward action.
Enable and support others: Encourage and help people around you succeed. Understand leadership happens at every level.
Take ownership: Be proactive and see your work as an extension of yourself.
Creatively solve problems: Think outside the box when tackling each new challenge.
Constantly improving: Be a lifelong learner. The kind of person that always wants to do better and be better.
People who are passionate about their work and excited about bringing innovation to our startups and enterprise companies have the opportunity to achieve a lot and excel in their careers with Cie.
Thrive Market is a subscription-based marketplace that connects users to sustainable and healthy products. Every paid subscription is matched by Thrive and donated to someone in need.
Think back to first joining the team. What drew you to Thrive Market? How have your expectations been met since coming aboard?
I desired a job at a brand with a clear mission and core principles — creating useful products — a position where I can advance professionally, use my skill set to further the objectives of the business and instantly understand how my efforts affect our members.
What attracted me to Thrive Market was its dedication to its cause. I joined a tiny team as an iOS engineer six years ago and had the chance to have an immediate impact on the product. I was able to take charge of the projects, collaborate closely with teams from different functions and develop useful services for our members.
In addition, metrics and data are the cornerstones of all we do here. This has had the added transparency on impact to our members and helped us maintain focus as we refine the features based on metrics.
What’s been your biggest success story since joining the team?
I’ve had the chance to work on several highly significant features. Our tech leadership at Thrive Market has always supported me and pushed me to assume more responsibility. My professional development — in my positions as a senior software developer, lead developer and now manager of the entire iOS team — has been facilitated by this.
We’re always trying to get better and use new technology, and I’m proud to have led multiple projects to re-architect, modularize and scale our program while producing benefits and features for our members. My best success story since joining the company has been witnessing the harmony between creating user-facing features and updating the iOS platform at Thrive Market.
Your company is currently hiring for a handful of roles. How can new hires make an immediate impact at Thrive Market?
The number one character trait that we look for in a new hire is having an ownership mindset — and that sets up people for success as engineers at Thrive Market. To deliver victories for our members while maintaining the quality of the experience, the tech leadership team acknowledges that the engineers take an active role in feature scoping, design and execution.
The number one character trait that we look for in a new hire is having an ownership mindset.”
We require engineers who approach projects with a holistic mentality, aren’t hesitant to ask questions and aren’t deterred by obstacles or the status quo. Instead, they come up with inventive solutions to issues, persist in the face of problems and develop systems that are scalable and reusable from the start. Cross-functional product development is what we do.
Logistics company Mothership is transforming the freight industry by connecting its on-demand network of trucks for expedited business-to-business shipping.
Think back to first joining the team. What drew you to Mothership? How have your expectations been met since coming aboard?
I remember walking into the office we had in LA and hearing the sales team on my way up to the second floor, walking past vertical screens on the wall full of business metric dashboards and meeting the very small team that was behind it all. It all felt really clean and trim.
It was a crazy good opportunity for me, of course. My previous two career steps had been at companies focused on mobility automation, and I wanted to use my experience to build a product and engineering platform from the ground up, so Mothership was a natural fit. Those early signs held true for me: We’re super mighty for our size, proud of our data-driven approach and we’ve built some of the coolest tech in the industry on a rock-solid platform.
We’re super mighty for our size, proud of our data-driven approach and we’ve built some of the coolest tech in the industry on a rock-solid platform.”
What’s been your biggest success story since joining the team?
I’m proud of all the automation we have. For our size, we’re ahead of the curve on developer velocity and operational stability. The first project I worked on was building much of the foundational infrastructure for how we develop, deploy and run Mothership’s services. We launched a lot of that new infrastructure right when we all had to suddenly work from home, learn to communicate effectively as a remote team and figure out how to work with a new set of tools.
We’re continuously adding more and more developer superpowers and I find it really fun to work in our environment. It’s a big win when we’re able to move quickly on a plan without having to cut corners because we’ve already invested in the developer experience needed to support it reliably.
Your company is currently hiring for a handful of roles. How can new hires make an immediate impact at Mothership?
Mothership has changed how carriers find work, get paid and manage their business. We’ve leveled the playing field for shippers and made it cheaper and easier than ever to get their freight moved without losing track of it. We’re in this for the long haul, so we obsess over making the lives of these groups easier, and we’re looking for people who are excited to be a part of that. On some teams, the impact may be more inward, building more superpowers for colleagues so they can move faster with automation.
