It can get very hectic and rushed, and you're often on your own. If you are great at being independently motivated, figuring everything out for yourself, managing yourself, and carving your own way—you'll do great no matter what position you're going for. If you need engagement and support, make sure your future manager can provide it.
A lot of the common "growing pains" of small, smart, individualistic companies apply: things can get "deadlocked" with no clear resolution. Authority isn't always very clear, and ideas sometimes die in limbo for lack of clarity. Approaches, can get abandoned part-way through. Work and effort can get wasted. Decisions can get made with the intent of transparency, but without clear communication. Things can move forward according to circumstance, rather than according to plan. All of this can be especially frustrating and demotivating to some personality types. It's getting better as the company grows, by necessity, but it's still hard. So it's good to know if you're especially sensitive to that.
The amount of Ginkgo-specific novelty sometimes gets perceived as arrogance—i.e., "it didn't matter how something was done where you used to work, this is how we're doing it here." Regardless of how applicable it is, this sometimes causes tension with experienced folks who come in.
With a relatively flat hierarchy, growth may not necessarily be reflected in title changes or salary as quickly as at larger places.
