Prós
The onboarding experience was great - super smooth and informative. The work itself was interesting and it really felt like we were supporting a good mission. There was always a lot of work to be done, and there were some late nights, but for the most part there was pretty decent work life balance for a startup. The best part was the people - my peers were very smart, helpful, and overall just great to work with. They really made the culture. Unfortunately, a lot of things have changed since then. Despite that, I hope they succeed for the sake of their mission.
Contras
It's well known that Stellar laid off nearly 30% of its staff earlier in 2023. When I was hired I was reassured multiple times about the amount of funding and runway they had, and that they were in a great financial position. Then boom, 6 months later and all of a sudden the story has changed that they barely have any runway. During many company meetings we were told multiple times that there was no risk of layoffs - we now know that was not true and that layoffs were being discussed the entire time, even as they continued to hire more people. There have also been many abrupt and unexpected changes in leadership, and very little transparency around them. There's definitely something going on behind closed doors that only a select few employees are in the know on, and they are keeping the rest of the company in the dark. This is a real shame that they are not open and honest, so take everything you hear from the recruiters or leadership with a grain of salt. If you are thinking about joining, make sure to ask them a lot of questions about why they have a need for hiring, their funding, and leadership principles.