Pros
- We're making a real difference in the world, changing public transit for many communities - it's a relevant problem! - There's good transparency as we know what's happening in the company, from hitting KPIs to financial health. Everyone can share thoughts, ask tough questions, and even disagree openly. - Ownership: We have a lot of control over our roles, with the freedom to change processes, try new things, make mistakes, and learn as we go. - We make strategic decisions based on data, so we're intentional about our next steps, goals and growth. - We're a fast-paced startup. We’re always on our toes, making quick changes to our products and operations. It keeps us relevant and means we're always offering awesome solutions to our customers. - People here are nice, well-intentioned, willing to help, and committed to our success. They care about what they are doing. - There’s a lot of flexibility in role responsibility, career paths, and work-life balance, but you need to advocate for yourself to carve out your balance. - We’re 100% remote (with perks for co-working spaces if you prefer in-person collaboration and Vancouver folks can go to the office as often as they like). We work well remotely, using Slack and other tools for smooth communication, with almost no internal emails.
Cons
A lot of the pros can also be cons, depending on your work style and the type of company you thrive in. Spare might not be the best fit for you if: - You prefer getting extensive training before diving into tasks. People who thrive here usually love to dig in, jump in headfirst, and learn on the go. This can vary across teams, though. - You like being in places with well-structured processes that don’t change much over time. - You struggle with making decisions on your own, making mistakes, or you constantly need a manager to make decisions for you. - You prefer a 9-to-5 job where you can just do your work and clock out. - You're not comfortable reviewing your performance a few times per year and having candid conversations about it with your manager and peers. - You prefer to rely on your company to manage your work-life balance, or if you're not okay with a fluctuating workload. While we do offer flexibility, workloads can vary a lot: some weeks might be crunch time with intense work and longer hours, while other weeks are more relaxed and "business as usual". The only real con, unrelated to work style, is that some benefits could be better: - We only get 15 vacation days a year plus the company shutdown days - There's no RRSP matching (understandable as we're still a smaller company)