What makes a company special?
Recently, Built In Boston asked 10 local tech professionals for their take. And while they mentioned an opportunity to work on innovative products, that’s not the only thing that sets their respective companies apart from the pack. What really makes them special is the people.
Whether their expertise lies in e-commerce, healthtech or insurance, the following companies have hit the nail on the head when it comes to hiring supportive and talented people. “I get to work with colleagues that are professional, competent and always ready to lend a hand,” Haixi Liu, a senior software engineer at Crunchtime!, said.
“When I met with team members during my interview, it seemed like everyone was very smart and worked together as a team,” Dispatch Software Engineer Nik Cheung added.
Continue reading to hear more about the ways in which these fast-growing Boston companies help their employees support one another to do their best work.
Chewy is an e-commerce company that offers pet owners supplies of all kinds for a variety of animals. Pet owners have access to food, toys, health products and more through Chewy’s website and mobile platform.
Creating next-level experiences: “One of the biggest reasons I joined Chewy and my favorite part of my job is being able to build solutions and tools — and then instantly see the impact,” Albrecht said. “I’m able to create next-level, differentiated customer experiences for our customers, team members and partners.”
One of the biggest reasons I joined Chewy and my favorite part of my job is being able to build solutions and tool.”
New solutions to better serve customers: “I’m really excited for all the new capabilities we’re building that don’t exist currently. Even as we continue to grow and scale, we never lose our focus on the customer. For example, when working on customer care initiatives, I get to help innovate new solutions such as rebuilding and optimizing the user-interfaces our team members use, which in turn help them to better serve pet parents everywhere.”
Rue Gilt Groupe is an off-price e-commerce portfolio company, connecting more than 35 million members with designers and in-demand labels at value. Three complementary brands, Gilt, Rue La La and Shop Premium Outlets, strategically support the business’s brand partners.
Autonomy to innovate: “One of the biggest reasons I’ve stayed in my role at Rue is because of the culture of the company,” Ramirez said. “There is a great balance of getting the support when needed while also being empowered to continue to drive the business forward through new and innovative ideas and tactics on my own. Not just in my own department, but cross-functionally, everyone is willing to partner and collaborate and it makes me feel that I have a direct hand in the success of the business.”
Everyone is willing to partner and collaborate and it makes me feel that I have a direct hand in the success of the business.”
An occasion to celebrate: “Coming out of a COVID-19 world, I’m excited to see how the company continues to take all the lessons learned and implement them into how the business moves forward. There were some amazing wins that I hope continue! Within the personal shopper department, I am looking forward to seeing how my team can add value to the overall client experience — to continue to create special one-on-one moments with our members to make shopping an occasion to celebrate.”
CrunchTime! is an all-in-one cloud-based restaurant operations platform designed to solve back-office problems. It helps customers manage their food inventory and labor scheduling, lower operational costs and create better experiences for guests.
Teamwork makes the dream work: “As a CrunchTimer with just over eight years of tenure, the biggest reason for me staying with the company is the people I work with,” Liu said. “Maybe I’m lucky, but I get to work with colleagues that are professional, competent and always ready to lend a hand (I do my fair share as well), so I’ve never felt left alone in challenging situations. This is true for both my current and former coworkers who’ve moved onto their next career chapter. As a rapidly growing and successful company, teamwork is what truly carries us all forward. There are occasions when an unfamiliar face from a different team steps up to the challenge and impresses everybody, but most of the time we know all our team members really well and leverage each other’s strength to achieve our goals.”
As a rapidly growing and successful company, teamwork is what truly carries us all forward.”
An increased focus on security: “As our customer’s needs continuously evolve, we keep reevaluating our practices, shifting focuses and changing priorities to better serve those needs. Restaurant brands are some of the most technology-centric companies out there, and we’re happy to play a major role in their tech stack.
“I am very excited about our ongoing internal architecture and infrastructure changes aimed at delivering the same functions with a better user experience so that we can stay out of the way and let customers focus on doing their business. We are also increasing our focus on security for our solutions so that our customers will not need to worry about application security or a data breach.”
Dispatch offers a specialized and unique software platform for home service brands that rely on independent service providers. With a focus on partnering with customer-centric brands, the company simplifies complex home service logistics.
Working together as a team: “During my interview process at Dispatch, the members of the engineering team that I met with told me they loved the team and the company culture,” Cheung said. “It’s always tough to gauge if you will like working at a company just based on the interview process, but it really seemed like they genuinely enjoyed working here. When I met with team members during my interview, it seemed like everyone was very smart and worked together as a team. I would say that my enthusiasm for Dispatch grew immeasurably after starting three months ago and continues to grow.”
There’s always so much to learn and explore because of our scalable architecture, new technologies, fun and collaborative spirit and desire to make things right.”
Excited for the future: “I’m certainly excited about ongoing company growth. As we expand into more markets, we’ll need to build many new features. And in general, I’m always excited for the next engineering initiative. There’s always so much to learn and explore because of our scalable architecture, new technologies, fun and collaborative spirit and desire to make things right. We are hiring and growing the engineering team this year, so it will be nice to have more voices in our topic-specific meetings as well as more domain knowledge.”
1upHealth is a cloud-based platform with a mission to unlock health data and empower digital transformation in healthcare to improve industry outcomes. With its FHIR API platform, the company makes it easier for multiple stakeholders to access, integrate, aggregate and share data across health systems.
Development opportunities: “The biggest reason I’ve stayed at 1upHealth for so long is the flexibility and freedom to choose which projects I work on,” Brew said. “This includes projects that continue to challenge and excite me and that also have a direct outsized impact on the company’s performance. In previous roles, I had far less of a voice in what I worked on, found things far more hierarchical and felt my contributions had far less impact on the bottom line. Throughout my time at 1up, I’ve been able to try my hand in a variety of roles and have been exposed to the types of projects and problems that I’m best suited for and that excite me. I’ve also been exposed to the opposite. Both types of experiences have proved invaluable in further developing myself and my career, allowing me to put myself in the best position to be successful.”
We have the technical capabilities, the right people and industry relationships that are pivotal to guiding our partners through this transition.”
Enabling people to live healthier: “Healthcare is in the midst of an overall shift, where it is finally starting to catch up to other industries from a technology and analytics perspective after lagging for decades. 1upHealth is uniquely positioned to capitalize in this environment as we begin to unlock more and more previously siloed data and let it flow freely in a standardized format for the purpose of deriving meaningful insights to improve care and lower costs. We have the technical capabilities, the right people and industry relationships that are pivotal to guiding our partners through this transition. Ultimately, I’m excited as we continue to work with our customers in healthcare to achieve the original vision that our company’s name is based on — the Super Mario 1up extra life mushroom to enable people to live longer, healthier lives.”
Zipcar is a car-sharing network found in more than 500 urban areas and university campuses. The company was designed to reduce vehicle ownership, providing members with socially responsible and sustainable mobility options that support the environment, communities and city livability.
An innovative, yet simple product: “Zipcar has come up with a very innovative product, yet conceptually very simple,” LeDonne said. “This combination of innovation and simplicity makes working for Zipcar very compelling as the work I am doing is very relatable on a personal level. I can see myself as a customer of Zipcar, and I can directly experience the impact of my contribution to the user experience and overall success of the company.”
This combination of innovation and simplicity makes working for Zipcar very compelling as the work I am doing is very relatable on a personal level.”
A transformational force: “What excites me the most is to be part of a transformational force in the car ownership model. The advent of ridesharing, the emergence of self-driving cars, concerns around global issues such as climate change or local issues such as traffic congestion are all factors leading to the simple conclusion that the ‘car as a service’ model is not only viable but a necessity.”
Leyton is a consultancy firm designed to improve the financial performance of its clients without impacting their core business. Specifically, the company helps clients with the implementation and optimization of research and development tax relief and credits.
Sitting in the driver’s seat: “Many things have motivated me to pursue a lasting career at Leyton as an employee approaching the two-year mark,” Carroll said. “Autonomy and support stand out as favorite qualities. I feel like I’m in the driver’s seat of my own business. I can engage any sector, forge strategic partnerships, and if I have questions or want to structure a deal differently, management has my back. This is a place where you stick around and do great things.”
I have a rare opportunity to write my own story and shape the company’s success.”
Shaping the company’s success: “The future of Leyton is vast. Backed by the success of its European business, the U.S. resembles a rapid-growth startup free to prosper without the need for external investments. By exploring new product offerings and collaborating with management on future roles, I have a rare opportunity to write my own story and shape the company’s success. Every day brings healthy challenges and welcomes fresh ideas, and that kind of mindset gets me up in the morning."
Corvus Insurance uses AI and machine learning to help commercial insurance companies and brokers quickly and accurately assess and manage risk for their clients.
Reshaping the industry: “Corvus has data science and machine learning at the core of its value proposition,” Duve said. “Because insurance is such a well-understood industry, data science teams at large companies are paddling upstream trying to modify existing workflows with leading-edge technology. Corvus, on the other hand, has built the entire company up starting with data science and machine learning. I joined because I believe the work I do here will not just make a strong impact on the company, but it has the potential to reshape an entire industry.”
I joined because I believe the work I do here will not just make a strong impact on the company, but it has the potential to reshape an entire industry.”
Using your imagination: “Our mission is to make the world a safer place. The reason I am so jazzed about working at Corvus is that word — ‘make.’ We share machine learning model results with prospective policyholders and tell them what they can do to reduce risk. We incentivize safer practices with lower premiums, making our clients safer. Building models that have a direct impact on the world is the dream, and Corvus leaves all ways to do this open to the data scientist’s imagination.”
Akeneo is an e-commerce company designed to help retailers and brands improve their “product experience management.” The company builds software to help brands and retailers centralize product data — descriptions, dimensions, technical specs and weight — and make it accessible across all sales outlets.
A real-human experience: “The deciding factor for me to accept my position at Akeneo sounds like a cliché, but it’s totally true — the people,” Hanyaloglu said. “From the co-founders on, everyone I met with during the hiring process was interesting, engaging and warm-hearted. But it was how genuine they all were that sealed it for me. I left each interview feeling like I had a great conversation between peers and friends, not just employees and candidates. Everyone really wanted to know about my perspective on things and came to me looking for my suggestions and advice, in addition to me learning something from them. Now that I have been at the company for a year, I understand why. The company’s values are demonstrated during the hiring process and every day thereafter. It’s refreshing and encouraging for a tech company on a hyper-growth trajectory.”
I left each interview feeling like I had a great conversation between peers and friends, not just employees and candidates.”
Unlocking growth opportunities: “Our co-founders have a bold vision for Akeneo. It’s certainly ambitious, but it’s definitely not ambiguous. Everyone at the company is behind it. We are at an exciting level of growth that will expand our business opportunities in the Americas from the Boston area. It will bring us into new markets with new technologies in a category of e-commerce that is still maturing. That all means my team and I have lots of great ways we can educate and bring actionable insights to businesses on how they can unlock their growth opportunities. And it’s all rooted in truly relatable values that our co-founders, and indeed the whole company, live each day. I’m stoked to be a part of Akeneo’s journey!”
BookBub is a free service that helps people discover the books they’ll love and allows publishers and authors to drive sales and find new fans along the way.
Passionate team members: “After completing a six-month co-op at BookBub three years ago, I knew I wanted to join the team full time,” Guilardi said. “The deciding factors were both the dynamic and creative work we do on the content team and the welcoming office culture that BookBub has to offer. Every day, I get the opportunity to work on projects that excite and challenge me, and I do so at an organization filled with talented, innovative thinkers who are passionate about the work they’re doing.”
Every day, I get the opportunity to work on projects that excite and challenge me.”
Making reading more accessible: “As BookBub continues to grow, I’m excited to find new ways to help readers discover new books and find great deals on the books they are excited to read. Books have always been such an impactful part of my life. I love that through my work on the BookBub content team, I can make reading more accessible to others by providing them with high-quality ebooks at affordable prices.”
