Very Good Management and Salary - Virtual Assitant UpCodes Employee Review

There are several pros to working at UpCodes. Before working for UpCodes, I had another remote job that allowed some flexibility. However, UpCodes has far exceeded everything I could have ever imagined in a flexible remote job. The company allows employees to work on a schedule that fits their lifestyle, which is a HUGE plus for someone with small children. There is no expectation of working the typical 9-5. This goes hand-in-hand with the flexibility of schedule, but the company provides employees with independence and ownership over your tasks/responsibilities. No micromanaging here (which was an issue for me with previous employers). Since the team is remote, you have the chance to work with the best people across the country, not just in your area. The company really ensures that they are hiring the highest caliber team members they can. This ensures that you are working with a team a people who have a high level of expertise in their area and value the work that they do and contribute to the company success.

I'm not really sure that I have come across a true con. The one con that can often come up in remote positions is that you can feel disconnected from the team. However, UpCodes battles that with monthly all-hands meetings, individual 1:1, monthly fun virtual get-togethers (such as water-cooler chat style meetings and social activities like virtual escape rooms, etc.)

UpCodes is a rare mix of top-notch people, an important problem space, really strong revenue growth, and a chill, remote-first working environment that makes it easy to work hard and have a life too. A few highlights for me: * We're making construction cheaper by making building codes easier to understand. Cost of housing and infrastructure is one of the US's biggest social problems, and we're helping to fix it... while making $$$ in the process. It's nice to work on something that makes the world a better place. * There's a real focus on building what's right for our customers, not to please managers or investors or vanity metrics. We're building for the long term. * Really impressive organic growth numbers, which are accelerating now that we're bringing on Sales & Marketing. In this shaky economic environment, it's nice to be in a place that's financially solid and not dependent on big infusions of VC cash. * My colleagues are super-easy to get along with. No jerks. We actively hire for collaborative skill along with smarts. * It's been fun to learn a new industry (construction, architecture, structural engineering) and to drag that industry into the 21st century with cool digital tools. * For a small company, it surprisingly has its sh*t together. HR, internal systems, internal docs, etc. all work pretty well, so you don't have to waste time on BS and can instead focus on building cool stuff and helping customers. * We're "meeting-light"-- as few meetings as possible, with most communication happening async over Slack, GitHub, Google Docs, etc. I have a lot more control over my time than in previous jobs. * Top-down emphasis on work-life balance: everyone takes vacations, no pressure to work late or weekends (some do, some don't-- no judgement either way). Great place for employees with young kids because you can pretty easily build a flexible schedule for family stuff.

We're 100% remote, which isn't for everyone and takes some getting used to. I'll describe some of the ways that we compensate for being remote, so you can get a sense for what it's like: * There's a *lot* of ad-hoc communication, esp. over Slack. You won't have a commute or many meetings, but you will probably spend 1+ hours most days reading and responding to others in Slack, GitHub, Docs, etc. All this chatter is good because it makes it easy for everyone to stay informed about what's going on. But it sometimes can be hard to keep up on some days. * If you're young and single and rely on work for your social life, then it's probably not the ideal environment. It probably works better for folks who have (or want!) a life outside of work too. * We're not building "sexy" tech or products. We're never gonna be on the cover of Wired. We're solving an important societal problem (building codes are too complicated!) but your friends will probably think your company sounds boring. Some folks care about the coolness factor more than others. * The company has lots of practices to help folks get to know each other remotely: monthly Zoom social events like last month's Mezcal cocktail-making class, annual in-person retreats, weekly "coffee breaks" with a few random colleagues, etc. I actually have fun at these, but some folks may find this too hokey. * The company's management style is pretty hands-off, which is sort of a requirement given a remote and geo-distributed workforce. But some folks really need a boss breathing down their neck to motivate them to do their best. If you're not a self-starter who's good at prioritizing your time and working independently, then you might struggle here.