It’s easy to take growing tech companies for granted. An oft-repeated statistic dictates that 90 percent of startups fail over the course of about 10 years, and according to Fundera, just 5 percent receive VC funding. This makes New York’s thriving tech scene all the more incredible. Of course, when it comes to building a career, it’s important to be at both a growing company and one that encourages and enables its employees to grow and expand their skill sets.
That’s exactly the opportunity the nine companies featured below offer. All of them are hiring and specifically seeking growth-minded technologists who want to tackle new challenges and take the next step in their careers. But don’t take our word for it. Instead, hear about the deciding factor that made these companies a can’t-miss opportunity from employees themselves, as well as why they’ve decided to put down roots and build a career there.
Justworks is an HR technology company that has built a single platform to manage HR, payroll, benefits and compliance. The company augments its tech with human support agents who can answer questions relating to everything from wage garnishments to how employees are classified and health plan enrollment.
Committing to DEI: “Three years into my tenure at Justworks, I know the company’s mission is authentic and true for both customers and employees,” said Mason. “Supporting people is the essence of what we do and it is at the heart of how we operate, from individual contributors to the leadership team. The level of human understanding, compassion and support I get from my colleagues — no matter their title or role — is not something I ever expected to experience in my career. There is a sense of community and an acceptance of people as they are that makes you feel truly valued.”
“From a DEI perspective, while I know we aren’t perfect, Justworks is the most inclusive environment that I have ever worked in. The company is holding itself accountable to its promotion of DEI by publicizing actual commitments and programs that are measurable and quantifiable. It is one thing to say something is important, but when you put measurable action items in place and account for them on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis, it says a lot about your commitment to the end results. As a Black woman it is important to me that I know my company values me, and others like me, having a seat at the table.”
Big things ahead: “Justworks is growing and innovating in so many ways. We are building solutions that will allow us to connect with a broader customer base and support more people in their everyday lives. By focusing on direct customer feedback and aligning product roadmaps with what is most important for customers, and even non-customers, I’m confident that the next few years will prove to be huge stepping stones in the evolution of Justworks and its growth.”
“As an account executive and now sales development manager, I’ve been able to experience firsthand how excited people get when they see a solution to their problems with Justworks. I’m looking forward to seeing that more as we evolve.”
Live events are slowly getting back into swing across the country, and fans are hot on the hunt for tickets after spending a year spent streaming sports, plays and concerts. That’s where SeatGeek comes in, with its mobile-focused platform that connects buyers and sellers.
Learning from day one: “There’s a great opportunity for growth,” said Fleitman. “From my first day, there’s always been plenty to learn. This still remains the case. With nearly every project, I pick up on either a new language or technology, which helps to advance my career by strengthening my skills. Plus, there’s plenty of experts on the team offering to share their knowledge either on what they work on or what they know!”
The future is pain(point)less: “Ticketing in general is an incredibly interesting industry with a history of consumer pain points. I’m really excited to be part of a team that’s enhancing the ticket buying process for users, making it a better experience from start to finish with everything we build. With each project, we keep the people in mind and try to deliver what we think would enable them to have the best adventure, from purchasing tickets to attending the event.”
Despite the proliferation of smart devices, first responders still rely disproportionately on data gathered from phone calls to 911. RapidSOS has built a platform that enables device makers to share user health, location and building information data (along with much more) with 911 in the event of an emergency.
The mission is the motivation: “I was thrilled to join the RapidSOS team in January as VP of product,” said Donnino. “Reflecting back, three reasons drove my decision: the mission, the people and the company’s current stage of growth. If I had to point to a single deciding factor, it would be the mission, hands down! I am part of an amazing team unified behind the goal of transforming the future of emergency response and saving lives. The ability to have such a massive impact on public safety is incredibly rewarding. We are constantly reminded of this by the powerful stories from emergency communication centers (ECCs) that leverage our technology to save lives.”
Problem-solving that saves lives: “The problems to be solved in emergency response are complex and nuanced. ECCs are faced with challenging circumstances and answer a wide variety of emergency calls every day. RapidSOS’ mission is to connect the world to public safety with our emergency response data platform to empower safer, stronger communities with intelligent, data-driven emergency response worldwide. Understanding the emergency tech landscape, solving complex problems, and delivering high-impact solutions drive our team forward every day.”
Tech companies have tended to take a fragmented approach to the restaurant industry, with companies offering standalone solutions for online ordering, reservations, marketing and more. BentoBox takes the opposite approach and offers a wide variety of tools and services, from website design to online ordering and gift cards, all in one place and on a subscription basis.
An unmistakable energy: “I’ve always enjoyed working with companies in the hospitality industry and building digital solutions for small businesses, and BentoBox gives me the opportunity to do just that,” Williams said. “I get to speak with restaurant owners every day and help solve some of the most pressing challenges they face in growing their businesses. My deciding factor was walking into the BentoBox headquarters for the first time and feeling the energy of everyone in the company.”
“Each person just seemed so aligned with the company’s mission and understood how crucial their role was in helping to fulfill it. The purpose that we all share at BentoBox has grown immensely over the past year, and despite not being in the office, the culture has only become more intentional and unique.”
Driving long-term success: “I’m most excited about the digital transformation happening within the restaurant industry right now. This past year, restaurant owners have had to become forward-thinking strategists, and it’s incredibly motivating to know that we are helping to create an online and in-store hybrid approach that is going to drive them to long-term success. It’s gratifying to see restaurants using the tools we’ve built, and getting to reap the benefit on the consumer side is pretty cool too.”
Caesars Digital is a sports betting and gaming company with a storied history in the United Kingdom that dates back to 1934. The company expanded its operations to the United States in 2012 and has doubled down on technology as more and more states legalize online sports betting.
Legacy name, modern solutions: “The reason I joined Caesars Digital two years ago remains the reason I’m still here today and enjoy the work we’re doing,” said Worthington. “The company has been around for over 85 years, and one might expect it to be set in its ways and traditional in its approach. Yet, during my interview process, the executives I spoke with made things very clear: We’re tackling a new market and need modern solutions to solve modern problems. The directive was also clear, to build the platform that would power the company into the future.”
“My team has had a say in the technology choices and architectural decisions regarding the features we’ve built, and this autonomy has allowed us to work efficiently by using the tools we know best while also providing the bandwidth to explore and learn new technology. Our industry is growing larger every year, and speed of delivery is vital for remaining competitive. We’ve been able to do that in a sustainable way by minimizing the distractions and focusing on what’s most important.”
Shaping a young industry: “Our industry is only getting larger as new states legalize sports betting and online gaming. The same is true for the product and tech organization at Caesars Digital as well. We’re continually hiring and growing. With so many great minds under one “virtual roof,” we have amazing opportunities to not only build great products but help evolve this rather young industry in the U.S. with whatever new features a teammate can think up. The road ahead holds so much potential, and I'm excited to work with everyone at Caesars Digital to help us realize it.”
The internet is filled with websites, many of which were created using Wix. The company’s platform has proved popular — some 200 million websites were built with it — because it was designed to be easy to use, with custom templates and drag-and-drop design tools enabling novices to quickly spin up professional-looking websites.
Stepping up: “Wix is a company meeting the moment,” said Shields. “I joined in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the company’s business was seeing massive growth. I felt that Wix was a company I could rely on during a time of uncertainty, and that its customers would be able to do the same.”
New team, big opportunity: “Since joining Wix, the Wix partners team has grown exponentially and hasn’t stopped. With the investment in the division, I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish as a larger team — refining the service and value of our offering to our clients — especially after 2020 when so many people established an online presence with Wix. Since the team is relatively new, there’s a huge opportunity to shape the role by drawing on your past experience and growth within the company.”
Marketers are just as hungry for data as any other team, if not more so, but it’s not just enough for them to have access to customer information. Simon Data has recognized this and has built a customer data platform, or CDP, and paired it with a marketing cloud that enables companies to both build customer profiles and craft campaigns and messaging in one place.
Recognizing and developing leaders: “The reasons I have stayed are twofold,” said Zahler. “First, Simon Data’s small and close-knit structure has allowed me to grow quickly within the organization. Second, the work itself is extremely stimulating and I get to solve new, complex problems daily. When I started at Simon, I was a solutions architect, or SA, supporting the enterprise sales team. Now, just a year and a half later, I lead the entire SA team, which supports all of Simon’s enterprise and mid-market deals.”
“I am currently growing the team and we are actively hiring. I love being a part of the SA team since no two days are the same. One morning I’ll speak with a major financial services firm to determine how they can best use Simon to solve their marketing pains, and the next I’ll be working with a 20-person direct-to-consumer startup. It’s exciting work to help drive cutting-edge marketing strategies for a variety of different companies across the globe!”
To the moon: “I’m most excited to take on new responsibilities as the director of solutions architecture. Our team provides custom demos to prospects and partners and has the ability to shape initial opinions on our tool. It’s an exciting task and a big responsibility. As I scale the team this year, I’m looking forward to bringing a diverse group of folks together to continue to set the bar extremely high on how Simon can make marketers’ lives easier.”
“I’m also looking forward to watching our product continue its rocketship growth. Simon is a differentiated product in a complex customer data platform landscape. We are about to release our new ‘Journey’s’ tool, which has easy-to-use drag and drop features. It’s really going to change the way our current clients and prospects use Simon on a day-to-day basis.”
Fraudulent transactions cost e-commerce companies money in a myriad of ways, from non-refundable chargeback fees to lost sales caused by consumers having to jump through too many hoops to prove they’re legitimate. Riskified’s AI-powered platform helps e-com companies fight fraudsters while smoothing out the checkout process for normal customers.
Making the jump: “I decided to join Riskified because I was looking for a dynamic, fast-growing company with a great culture. Given my background in finance and business, I thought going into fintech would be the best way into the tech industry. Riskified sounded like the perfect place to make the jump from investment banking to tech — large enough to learn from colleagues and managers but small enough to get the startup experience.”
“The business development role seemed like a great fit given how much I enjoyed advising large enterprises and working with clients in my previous role. I’m really glad I made the leap to Riskified as it has proven to be a wonderful experience.”
E-commerce enablers: “E-commerce is an exciting industry to be in right now: The growth, speed of change and innovation that we saw this past year has been amazing. During the pandemic, especially periods of confinement, the industry was of utmost importance to support the economy.”
“Riskified plays a huge role in enabling e-commerce growth by providing confidence to merchants and consumers, modernizing their fraud reviews, helping recover transactions that had authorization failures and protecting their customer’s accounts. As companies are embracing digitalization and change more than ever, we are in a good position to help them achieve those goals.”
“As a member of the business development team in New York, I get to make an impact on Riskified’s expansion by introducing our story and solutions to companies in the U.S. and Latin America. I’m able to drive change by working with companies to uncover new opportunities and support their e-commerce strategy and growth. Being able to see a company that I started a conversation with ultimately become one of our clients is very rewarding.”
Transfix is a freight logistics company that connects companies with cargo to move to carriers with capacity. Those companies include the likes of Staples, Wayfair and Target, to name just a few.
Transfixed by the team: “I have been at Transfix for over three years, and the biggest reason I’ve stayed is the amazing, diverse group of people I have the privilege of working with on a daily basis,” said Ngao. “We have people from different walks of life who each make a valuable contribution to our company’s culture and bring with them experiences that help us think outside of the box. Not only are our teams filled with incredibly talented people, but we work in a fully supportive environment that allows us to be ourselves. We all help each other to reach our goals as a company.”
Better together: “I am very excited about how the intense collaboration among our teams is driving us toward the future! While each team has their own goals and intentions, we all take into account what other teams are doing and are always finding better ways to work together. Whether this is making it easier to share data across teams or building improved workflows to drive efficiency for our users, we truly want to make everyone’s lives easier and more efficient.”
