Don’t be spooked by big-tech layoffs.
It’s true that large companies like Google and Microsoft have been reducing their workforces — but some Boston startups see that as an opportunity. In a November article in The Boston Globe, Harvard Business School professor Jeff Bussgang argued that while a big tech presence has helped Boston’s tech scene, they’ve also monopolized a lot of top talent over the years.
With an increase in the available talent pool, this is a good time for startups to be hiring. On Built In Boston alone, over 250 companies are advertising over 2,900 jobs. Each of these companies provide their own opportunities, pose their own interesting challenges and have their own unique culture.
To help narrow the search for job seekers, Built In Boston is highlighting the culture and growth opportunities of three local companies. Employees from EverQuote, Medically Home and Indigo shared their experiences at each business — if those experiences resonate with you, check out their job openings.
EverQuote strives to make insurance shopping easier — both by improving the consumer experience and helping insurance providers better attract clients. Sanchez-Rojas was drawn in by EverQuote’s joyful culture and the chance to grow his technical skills.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about your company’s culture?
On my third day at EverQuote, I remember joining a meeting with some senior managers in the company who were being funny and joking around with one another, and I thought to myself: I’ve found the right place.
This was a call where people were having fun while working. To me, that signals that they’re putting their best attitude into the job and they are ready to collaborate and be authentic with each other.
At EverQuote, I encountered a culture that replaces the unnecessary meeting formalities that might add stress with jokes that bring relief and happiness. It made me feel secure and sparked in me the intention to bring a good attitude that keeps me real and honest with myself and others.
At EverQuote, I encountered a culture that replaces the unnecessary meeting formalities that might add stress with jokes that bring relief and happiness.”
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and what skills did it help you develop?
I’m working on a cool project to help optimize how we acquire leads. Through working on this project, I’ve developed both technical and soft skills which I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to develop.
Regarding technical skills: I’ve learned about system architecture and data quality management — both variables to consider when taking technical tradeoffs to gain speed and model performance. In the industry EverQuote operates, taking five seconds to process a request is already slow. Thus, the requirements push us to build systems and cloud services that are top of the class. A decision not thoroughly reviewed can impact scalability or efficiency, thus limiting the reach and impact of the project.
As for soft skills: EverQuote is a company that actively cares about diversity, which means bringing people with different backgrounds together. For example, I joined the company using a work permit, allowing me to learn about the culture of the company and work habits. My skills in teamwork and critical thinking have also been sharpened due to this environment.
Medically Home helps healthcare providers bring quality care of all kinds to their patients at home. Thanks to a team-focused, open culture, Kamara is confident that she is making a difference in the mission of advancing patient care.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about your company’s culture?
When I joined Medically Home, I was not sure what to expect from the team culture — but I was quickly impressed by the kindness my new colleagues exhibited. From the HR team to my fellow fulfillment team members, everyone was approachable and collaborative from the start.
In past roles, I worked in environments where my colleagues became tense whenever members of the executive leadership group entered the room. Here at Medically Home, I quickly found out that is not the case — the leaders listen to our ideas and collaborate with us to find solutions that work well for all. After a very short time at Medically Home, I felt a strong sense of belonging. The realization that no thought or idea is too small to consider, and that you don’t need an executive title to be heard, is something I reflect on often and consider essential to the success of our team.
No thought or idea is too small to consider, and that you don’t need an executive title to be heard.”
How long have you been with the company, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
Since I joined Medically Home a little over a year ago, I have grown and fine-tuned many of my existing skills. I am thankful that I was able to expand my capacity for attention to detail, problem solving and communication. When I first started, I would spend eight hours of my shift trying to solve day-to-day issues on my own. After a year of working here, I am proud to say that I spend my time helping a team identify better ways to execute and support Medically Home’s patient-centered care model.
Indigo uses microbiology and digital technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of the agriculture industry. Creating innovative solutions to solve critical problems in an essential market is what drew Ryan Daly to Indigo — and what keeps him there.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about your company’s culture?
When I first started at Indigo, the collaborative culture stood out most to me. Projects were interdisciplinary from the start, with people from communications and data science, corporate development and finance working together to find solutions that worked for our customer. This made every meeting a dynamic conversation and an education in a variety of fields. Different viewpoints all carried the same weight and made the outcome of the project better. There was also the freedom, given this dedication to collaboration, to work more in certain disciplines. I was able to get involved in public relations, investor communications and ad copywriting because of Indigo’s culture.
I was also surprised by how the company was built around constant learning and improvement. Indigo was a recently minted start-up at the time, so initiatives and plans changed quickly as we identified the right market fit for our products. It’s something that Indigo still does exceptionally well today, as a more mature company with ten years of work behind it.
Harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet? Sign me up.”
How long have you been with the company, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I have been with Indigo for over four years. Before joining the corporate development team here to focus on technical communications, I was moving between different writing-focused roles in different fields, including journalism and civil engineering. I loved that writing professionally paid the bills, but I was struggling to feel settled with a particular company or industry — I needed a fast pace and big goals, and my work needed to have an impact. Writing project proposals for parking lots in small metro areas just wasn’t cutting it.
So when I made the move to Indigo, I did it because Indigo was a technology start-up in agriculture. Harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet? Sign me up.
Now, after four years and three roles with the company, I have found not only the right industry but the right organization. Indigo has supported my trajectory from individual contributor with a specialized skill set to a marketing manager working with the commercial and technology teams. I look forward to the decades I will now spend building new markets for food and fuel in agriculture with innovative companies like Indigo.
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