Lyft vs Pinterest vs Square

New / Eng
RhgM81

New Eng

RhgM81
Nov 8, 2017 69 Comments

Hi! I have offers from Lyft, Pinterest and Square for L5(senior engineer), 9 years of experience. The compensation is pretty even (around 180k cash and 10k bonus), though I plan to negotiate some raise. I’m trying to figure out what to choose and the choice is not obvious for me at all.
My main requirements are:
- good engineering culture
- a reputable company to look good on the resume
- good future to stay there for 2-3 years
- good tech and smart people to learn from
- Interesting and scalable problems to work on
- collaborative environment
- good work-life balance

If comparing how hard the interview was, the hardest was Pinterest, then Square and the easiest was Lyft.

Any comments are highly appreciated! Thanks!

Upd:
I summarized the answers in this thread:
- Lyft: good eng culture, some chance of IPO
- Square: liquidity and guaranteed money from RSUs, but nobody commented about eng culture or tech, so I assume it’s not as great
- Pinterest: international potential, large scale problems, better work life balance

Based on that, I more favor Pinterest or Lyft so far. Money wise, I prefer more base and Square base is the lowest by a big margin.

Upd:
Can anyone please tell something about how these companies compare in terms of eng culture, quality of talent and technology? Thanks!

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TOP 69 Comments
  • Lyft, it has the best future among these 3
    Nov 8, 2017 0
  • Square / Eng
    ⬇️↘️➡️A

    Go to company page Square Eng

    ⬇️↘️➡️A
    I'm biased, but Square
    Nov 8, 2017 13
    • New / Eng
      RhgM81

      New Eng

      RhgM81
      OP
      Square offers just 300 in stock, total 240. So together with paid food and more expensive medical contributions (for married) this offer is the less appealing of 3.
      Nov 11, 2017
    • Square / Eng
      SQ

      Go to company page Square Eng

      SQ
      Paid food should really be the least of your concerns, especially with free snacks, breakfast, and dinner. I get the comp + medical contributions, but $80 a month is a little overkill on making a decision.
      Nov 11, 2017
  • Google
    SQaR46

    Go to company page Google

    SQaR46
    Square is my vote
    Nov 8, 2017 0
  • Pinterest literally has everything in your list. Better work life balance than the other two companies. If you stay for 2-3 years you’ll be able to stay through the ipo, so you’ll make a lot of money
    Nov 9, 2017 5
    • You don’t know pinterest’s revenue or user numbers 🙄
      Nov 10, 2017
    • Facebook / Eng
      unicorn-

      Go to company page Facebook Eng

      unicorn-
      Twitter is not doing as poorly as it did in previous quarter. It is definitely not doing great.

      I don’t know the exact number but I know how advertising works. PInterest is picking up some experimental budgets but it is structurally not positioned to return ROI competitive with FB and Google. While Snapchat has a more unique audience, PInterest has a better surface but common audience and not enough frequency of use.

      The visual search product would have to take off first before there is any opportunity for monetization and it is long way from that
      Nov 10, 2017
  • Apple
    Fsgs34hwhw

    Go to company page Apple

    Fsgs34hwhw
    Square
    Nov 8, 2017 0