The web is full of stories about what it’s like to work for companies like Google and Microsoft, but when it comes to Apple, all’s quiet on the western front. Because of Apple’s notoriously secretive corporate culture, we know relatively little about what it’s like to actually work there.
While not a scathing expose, a recent blogpost on Quora, a blog focused on Silicon Valley corporate culture, has a post up from former Apple employee Chad Little who gives a rare behind the scenes glimpse into what life is like at 1 Infinite Loop.
Regarding Corporate Culture:
Apple is a pretty divided mix of typical corporate red tape and politics mixed in with startup level urgency when the direction comes from Steve. If you have a project that Steve is not involved in, it will take months of meetings to move things forward. If Steve wants it done, it’s done faster than anyone thinks is humanly possible. The best way to get any cross departmental work done was to say its for Steve and you’d probably have it the same day.
Regarding Launch Events:
Probably the single greatest feeling working at Apple is getting to work on part of the product launch process. You plan and prep for months, then launch week you work like mad for 12-16 hours days and even pull all nighters to make sure your piece of the puzzle is ready for Apple’s big presentation. Then you gather with all the other employees in the cafe and watch it all unfold. It’s a great rush and your whole team feels it.
There’s a lot more in the full entry, but one particularly interesting tidbit is that Apple employees, no matter how minuscule their job, tend to work with a mindset that they are truly changing the world, and believe that they’re working on something far bigger than themselves. I wonder if the folks working on the Kin felt that way 😉
July 9th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Interesting stuff. Would be even better if we could hear from folks from the “bad old days” of the Amelio era. And, of course, ideas about what happens after Jobs leaves.