Pros
Creating an environment which is pleasant for everyone is difficult in fact it is almost impossible. In hopes of achieving their goal of becoming an "award-winning place to work", X Prize created a new contemporary office space which is appealing to visitors. The ideas that come from the development team are astounding in theory with a network of visionaries and leaders that would rival any Fortune 500 company. The operations team takes a concept and creates legal, ethical and inspired competitions meant to change the world. These are not easy tasks nor are they commonplace. It takes a remarkable group of people to create and operate these prizes.
Cons
Unfortunately, the cons far outweigh the pros. Management is so focused on nurturing their own egos and covering their own tracks that they don't focus on their constant internal discrepancies over everything from the core values to their management philosophies (or lack thereof), annual objectives or organizational missions. There is great autonomy when working at X Prize because management doesn't understand how to manage without micromanaging. The staff is continuously confused about the mission of the organization, there is no camaraderie because everyone is pointing the finger at everyone else to avoid the wrath of management and the amount of money spent on new offices should have been spent elsewhere because apparently nobody bothers to show up to work. There are a good number of excellent people who work at the organization but they won't stay for long once they realize there is in fact no change occurring in a place whose mantra is to revolutionize the world. Management is borderline tyrannical. There have been employees who have fallen out of favor who have suddenly and without explanation disappeared from the organization without a trace never to be heard from again. It puts employees on edge and creates a stressful environment.