Behind the Scenes: An Intern's View of the Hottest New Tech Company

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Miles Sorlie for writing today's blog post. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. 

As a soon-to-be graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science, I am coming to realize what life will be like after school. It's crazy to think that I have been in school for sixteen straight years and will soon suddenly be dropped off on the curb of society. Well, not exactly dropped off, I hope it will be more graceful than that. Senior year has been quite the journey, and my time at Pulsara has eased me into the "real world," teaching me about software development, business, and teamwork.

I'll admit though, that being at Pulsara has severely exacerbated my senioritis. I don't know what it is about school, but every team project always seems to have that one guy (I'm talking about you Kevin) that slacks off and is a drain on the team's effectiveness. It has made me sometimes dread group projects, which is probably not a great thing for college graduates to be thinking.

However, working in a team at Pulsara is a completely opposite experience from those lame school projects. What I notice the most about working here is the palpable team atmosphere that emanates from James' cracking whip (I’m kidding, he doesn’t have a whip). But it is there - the constant communication either in person or over Slack that makes me feel more involved in the team.

Last summer I interned at a large technology company and the atmosphere was very different there, as you might expect. Even though I was not a regular team member, I did not feel as connected to the core mission of the company, which is important to me. I was such a small cog in their process that my work seemed so insignificant to the end product. That is not to say that working for a large company cannot be rewarding, and I am sure many people have fruitful careers with them. But it did make me appreciate Pulsara that much more once I came to work here.

What is cool about this size of company is that I can somewhat grasp the entire codebase. While I may be new to the field and don't have much experience, I can usually get a sense of what is going on. If I don't, I can always go, "Hey Jerad, I don't understand XYZ, can you help me out?" Another thing that I appreciate about Pulsara is the flexibility. If I need to work from campus today because I am crunched for time, no problem. Frustrated with unit tests not passing for some reason? Better do nine holes on Golden Tee and crush (or not) virtual golf balls into oblivion.

I've also enjoyed learning about the non-development sides of the company. How do we market ourselves to new customers? How do we prioritize features to be implemented? How do we read the market and adjust our trajectory?

Working for a smaller company has made me realize that good teams with good communication are very powerful and that you can make real change. Everyday I see proposals made, debated, investigated, and decided upon. On the fly meetings happen when issues come up and then a resolution is made. Pulsara's ship is not as big as the tanker, so we are able to change our heading quicker.

But the most fun I've had is getting to know the development team and the rest of the company. Knowing more about the person and where they come from makes all the difference.

Some key take-aways I've learned:

* Golden Tee is not as easy at it looks

* I have a lot to learn about the world of craft beer

* Brazil might not be a good place to live right now (no offense Brian)

* I have a lot of 80's and 90's movie references to catch up on

* Fresh, dank memes are always welcome

* 90's rap helps you write the best code

tl;dr - Pulsara is pretty neat.