This past June, Bloomberg ran an article calling Austin the “biggest winner” of the Covid-19-fueled tech migration, with data showing that the city recorded a net inflow of 217 tech workers per 10,000 existing ones from May 2020 to April 2021. While some of those new arrivals brought their work with them, others came to Austin seeking new opportunities — such as the one Addison Leatherman found with AlertMedia.
While Leatherman is not a transplant — he attended UT and has spent most of his career in Austin — his recent career arc is an example of why people are so drawn to the city’s tech scene. Leatherman joined AlertMedia in September 2020 as a customer success manager. About a month later, the company announced it was moving to a new 70,000-square-foot headquarters. A year after that, AlertMedia was named to the 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 report. Naturally, as AlertMedia has grown, so too has Leatherman’s career.
“I recently moved into a new role as a solutions engineer, working closely with our team’s top sales leaders to support some of the world’s largest organizations,” Leatherman said. “Working in an environment that helps me grow professionally and provides opportunities to develop new skills is invaluable to me.”
What’s so great about Leatherman’s story is that it’s not all that unique. Austin is filled with fast-growing tech companies that offer employees the opportunity to grow their careers while doing exciting work. We have rounded up 10 of just those types of companies here, all of which take professional development seriously and are hiring right now.
Optiver is an electronic market maker and proprietary trading firm with offices around the world.
Describe Optiver’s culture in one word.
Autonomous. We don’t look for people who fit into a specific box and similarly don’t expect our colleagues to perform a list of expected tasks once hired. All Optiverians are autonomous and free to expand the boundaries of their role and scope at a speed of their choosing. For us, it’s all about finding the smartest people and giving them the autonomy to do their best work.
No matter which team you join, you’ll take complete ownership of your projects, fully understand our complex challenges and then set and execute the strategies that solve them. This culture of empowering our people to autonomously own end-to-end projects has been the key to our 35-plus years of continued innovation.
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and how did it help you grow professionally?
At Optiver, you don’t have to spend years proving yourself and paying your dues to take on a cool project. You’re expected to hit the ground running with exciting work from day one. Early in my career, I worked on improving our automated trading systems. Being challenged to creatively reinvent the wheel was a daunting task.
To succeed, I needed the courage and support to strip back highly sophisticated systems to their core. Although I was new, Optiver saw the merit in my strategy and encouraged me to implement bold solutions over incremental changes. Since then, the firm has never stopped enabling me to take on new challenges and accelerate my growth.
Wix is a website building platform designed to enable both people and businesses —according to the company it has some 200 million odd users — to quickly and easily create custom websites.
Describe Wix’s culture in one word.
Genuine. Leadership is very transparent about what’s happening at the company, what they’re focusing on and why. Whenever they can, they try to involve everyone at every level so we all feel connected to the company’s goals. It’s cool to see how receptive Wix is to different opinions, too, as it makes us feel like everyone’s opinion matters. No matter who you are or what role you’re in, you’re welcome to talk to anyone and they’ll listen. I’ve been able to meet with people in leadership and share feedback about what our new team in Austin needs to feel supported. Not only did they truly listen, but they actually took action.
As a team lead, I continue to offer that transparency. I make sure to embrace the open-door policy found throughout Wix by being honest, vulnerable and available for my team. I promise to always tell them the “why” behind our approach to things and let them know they can come to me with anything, good or bad. This makes them feel valued and heard, fostering an open and empowered culture where people feel trusted, free to speak up and can spark change.
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and how did it help you grow professionally?
When I was a customer care expert, I shared feedback about my training experience and why I believed we needed to make changes. True to Wix’s culture, I was encouraged to work on this project and my manager gave me time each week to commit to it. My project focused on improving the nesting period when experts are trained and integrated into the team. I remembered how scary it was when I went through it and how it felt like I was being thrown into the deep end. I believed that changing the process would create a better experience for our experts and help them be successful sooner.
Since pitching the idea, we piloted the program through several training classes and used their daily feedback to continually tweak it. We’re now at the point where our experts say it’s been a positive change because they feel more supported, signaling we can launch it wider. I can’t wait to see how this will create a unified and consistent process throughout all our global locations. Because of my manager’s trust and the freedom to influence change, I have been able to propel my career growth quickly at Wix.
Jointly has created an online platform that enables real estate agents to draft, submit and manage offers. The platform enables agents for the buyer and seller to collaborate on offers and gives buyers the ability to track the status of their bid.
Describe Jointly’s culture in one word.
Grit. Startup life is exciting: every opportunity is nerve-wracking, every decision is impactful and every feature is key to success. We’ve already accomplished so much, which I attribute to the passion and perseverance of our staff. I’ll always remember the first consultants we spoke with who asked, “Why would you focus on this? That seems like a really difficult problem to solve.” Imagine being that early on — we hadn’t officially formed Jointly yet — and hearing that from the industry’s top consultants. We didn’t back down, though. Instead, we rolled up our sleeves.
It’s been extremely motivating each week to see how we’re tackling this problem, and that grit has been with us every step of the way. We’re passionate about our clients’ success and making them more efficient. We’re trying new approaches and iterating quickly. We’re not bogged down by processes and red tape. We’re focused on building an indispensable product.
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and how did it help you grow professionally?
Jointly is the project — it’s all-new and built from the ground up and is definitely the coolest project of my professional career. We’re completely changing the tooling real estate agents and their clients use to transact such a large and momentous purchase. The existing tools are subpar, to put it generously, and our solution has the flexibility to solve just about any situation imaginable.
I’ve grown amazingly on this journey of taking a product from zero to one. Establishing offices in Austin and Argentina and hiring talented people is a definite highlight. Working with engineers to establish a base architecture and design patterns is another. So is working with the implementation and product teams and our clients to understand their needs and use cases, all while facing and ultimately thriving during the challenges Covid-19 brought just as we established the company.
Homeward is a fintech company that aims to make buying a home less stressful by enabling people to make cash offers, with the company using its own funds to purchase homes in cash that it then sells back to the home buyer who “made” the original offer.
Describe Homeward’s culture in one word.
Transparent. It was clear to me from the beginning that the culture is open and honest and that the team is ready to talk through wins and challenges together. As I went through the interview process, everyone I met was honest about where Homeward was excelling and where areas for improvement are. That level of transparency has been echoed in my experience on the team, and we strive to ensure that we continue operating from a place of openness as we grow.
How long have you been with Homeward, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I’ve been with Homeward for just under a month and it’s been an incredible onboarding experience. Learning a new industry, real estate, in an innovative environment has been a great learning and professional development opportunity. What we are doing in the market is truly revolutionary, and it is both refreshing and energizing the more I learn about how we all work together at Homeward to ensure we leave our mark in the space.
Matillion’s software helps companies realize the promise of big data by removing the difficulty around getting data into the cloud and transformed so that it’s able to provide impactful, real-world business insights.
Describe Matillion’s culture in one word.
Dynamic. We are scaling and growing rapidly. There are lots of exciting projects happening and lots of positive change. Our culture is built upon our values, which are at the heart of everything we do. It’s a busy time for Matillion, and the last 18 to 24 months have been tough for every organization. Matillion has been super flexible and adaptive, and we have been treated amazingly.
We’ve moved to a more hybrid working environment with more and more people working remotely. Extra support has also been provided to those who need it, such as by allowing parents to work split days to suit homeschooling. We’ve made great progress as a company and the next 12 to 18 months look really thrilling.
How long have you been with Matillion, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I’ve been with Matillion for two years. I joined when we were just over 150 people and we’re now not far away from being at 450. I’ve had the chance to be involved in building a lot of processes and best practices, and I’ve been exposed to a lot of things that I’m confident I would not have had the chance to do if I wasn’t at Matillion.
There were just two of us when I joined the talent acquisition team, and we are now just under 20 people. The chances I’ve had to learn and grow have been second to none. We talk about doing career-defining work here, and I truly believe that Matillion has defined my career and really allowed me to learn so much. Being part of the talent acquisition team has meant being directly involved in our exciting growth. It is so great to see the people we have hired go on to do amazing things, be promoted and really enjoy their time here.
Amherst uses research and analytics to uncover opportunities in residential and commercial real estate. The company buys, renovates and manages single-family homes, offers access to credit for commercial buyers and also constructs and manages custom mortgage-backed security portfolios.
Describe Amherst’s culture in one word.
Diversity. Diversity is what made me join Amherst. Our company is taking a widespread business approach to diversity with the goal of being the best single-family rental platform in the country. We achieve this through diversity in our products and demographic focuses. We offer single-family home rentals in markets where the need for family housing is most critical.
How long have you been with Amherst, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I have been with the company for three months. However, in my short time I’ve had great access to senior leadership. Amherst has an encouraging open-door culture in my experience. I can ask for the opinions of executive leaders, and in return, I am asked for my opinion by executive leadership, which is invaluable. It gives me confidence to know I can grow with this company.
It’s 2021 and Americans are not paying with checks anymore, although some insurance agents and brokers still ask for them. ePayPolicy has built technology that enables insurance professionals to ditch checks and begin accepting digital payments made via credit card or bank transfer.
Describe ePayPolicy’s culture in one word.
Engaged. This is an organization that is all-in no matter what. We are a customer-first company, and showing up every day to engage on a deeper level with clients, vendors and teammates is at the core of what we do.
Our size dictates a lot about who is involved in fixing an issue or dealing with enterprise clients that require more complex integrations, so it oftentimes is an “all hands on deck” situation. To that end, the way each department and individual engages naturally with one another goes a long way toward our ability to complete any task.
How long have you been with ePayPolicy, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I was fortunate to find a home with ePayPolicy as the world shut down in March 2020 right after I was furloughed from my previous organization. The last 20 or so months have been the greatest and most professionally challenging of my career in terms of learning and adapting to change and growing into a role I never initially saw myself in. ePayPolicy offers the excitement of a rapidly growing organization with the stability a successful product and solid investment bring, which allows everyone to flex into positions that suit our individual goals and contribute at the highest level against our company goals.
I often call us a “grown up startup,” and that’s what it truly feels like. We’re on track to exceed every goal set for us and are still humble enough to get excited over the little things, like our ice maker and the personal accomplishments of our teammates.
Khoros’ customer engagement software is used by brands like Microsoft, Visa and Samsung to connect with consumers. Its enterprise software suite offers solutions for customer support, social media marketing and online community building.
Describe Khoros’ culture in one word.
Connected. Joining a new company during a pandemic could easily be a nerve-wracking and stressful situation. When I joined Khoros, I immediately felt welcomed and connected with my team and leadership. The amount of support I’ve received from teams across the company has been terrific, and I appreciate the work-life balance that’s offered through our remote flexible policy. It’s a great feeling to work for a company that provides flexibility and trusts its employees.
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and how did it help you grow professionally?
It’s been exciting to help grow our sales teams as the company continues to scale. Partnering with leadership to identify market trends and keep Khoros competitive in our industry has been a fulfilling challenge. With these trends, we are able to develop strategies to attract and hire the diverse talent we need to achieve our hiring goals.
AlertMedia’s software is used by companies like DHL, Walmart and JetBlue to communicate with employees about emergencies or other events that threaten their health and safety.
Describe AlertMedia’s culture in one word.
Unified. One of the best things about AlertMedia is that everyone works toward a single goal: to help companies keep their people safe during emergencies. For example, our engineering and customer success teams work hand-in-hand to ensure our products are simple, intuitive and provide features that businesses need to navigate emergencies effectively.
While giving a demo to a prospect recently, we received some valuable feedback regarding a feature request. Our sales leadership is very attuned to our product roadmap and quickly realized that this request would be impactful for many of our current customers as well. In a matter of weeks, we not only added a feature that helped a prospect feel great about their decision to move forward with us but we also rolled out a new capability that benefited thousands of existing customers.
That may sound simple enough, but it required a lot of coordination between management, the sales team and our product team. And it made me appreciate being able to work for an organization that consistently innovates to better serve its customers.
How long have you been with AlertMedia, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I started with AlertMedia in September 2020 as a customer success manager onboarding new customers. That role gave me hands-on experience with our product and helped me understand how it interacts with the other technologies our customers rely on to run their businesses, along with how we fit into the big picture based on each customer’s needs and priorities. As a result, I recently moved into a new role as a solutions engineer, working closely with our team’s top sales leaders.
I love that I get to work directly with both our customers and sales teams to address questions, solve problems and implement best practices. Working in an environment that helps me grow professionally and provides opportunities to develop new skills is invaluable to me.
Loomly is a social media marketing platform that provides tools for publishing, optimizing and analyzing posts. Its tools include a built-in ad manager, suggestions for what to post and an asset manager for storing photos and videos.
Describe Loomly’s culture in one word.
Deliberate. Our team takes a measured approach to creating solutions to the challenges we face. When designing, we research and review all options and how they fit into our short-term and long-term goals. A recent example relates to streamlining database functionality. Situations arise that require the ability to troubleshoot and test changes against production databases, and best practice has us avoid performing these operations against the real production database. Methods exist within AWS to perform these operations manually, which we currently utilize, but this is a multi-step process subject to potential error.
We were seeking an automated or streamlined option for database cloning. After a discussion of my findings with the team, we decided to spend extra time understanding AWS Aurora. What functionality do we lose? What pricing and billing ramifications does it bring? What tuning is required? It’s easy to find the upside in any new technology but with all options being imperfect, what are the limitations? We are given the appropriate bandwidth to understand the options comprehensively and be deliberate with our plan and execution.
How long have you been with Loomly, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I’ve been with the company for three months now and time has flown by. One of the reasons I decided to join was the team’s diversity of skills as well as the depth of knowledge in those different realms. My day-to-day work has me primarily working with the engineering team. From day one, I have had a lot of questions to ask about the environment, design specifics and more. At many companies, this can be a defensive and tense time as these questions can be interpreted as negative judgments on existing work. My manager has always had thorough and prompt answers to these queries, which has enabled me to learn some of the amazing ways they’ve scaled the platform so well.
Loomly creates an environment conducive to learning and being proud of the final work you create with the team.
