Pros
I've been working at TASER (Axon) for a few months. I declined a Google offer to come here.
I absolutely have no regrets for the following reasons:
1. Tech Team
The tech team has a high bar - folks mostly coming from Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Google or start ups. There is a high ration of Senior developers to younger developers. Everyone is active in each others projects and code reviews: sharing ideas, insights, and best practices. Most software team managers are senior devs who split their time between managing and coding. They understand your work, give you guidance, and respect the balancing act between quality engineering and delivery time.
2. Tech Projects
From a technical perspective, there are bountiful opportunities here. With more potential projects than people, you are guaranteed to be given an impactful role designing new systems and services. Axon will keep you busy, keep you challenged, and keep you learning. I do not see this trend slowing down for quite a while.
3. Culture
Even though we all have a ton of interesting work on our hands, we take the time to celebrate our success. We have some sort of social on a weekly basis (organize thanks to our wonderful happiness team). Monthly desert parties, tech talks, spur of the moment decisions to all go jump in Lake Union, chocolate extravaganzas, and a healthy dose of daily doubles ping-pong. We know how to have fun here!
4. Passion
We have a daily impact on the lives of officers around the globe. We all know the potential this company has and the importance of the ecosystem we are building!
From a professional level to a personal level - choosing to come work at TASER was a stellar decision.
Cons
There is no straight forward career path other than the jump to Senior, which makes it harder to define your growth form an external perspective.
Personally, I'm not too worried. I hope to stay here as long as I continue to be challenged intellectually.
