Pros
Mantis is a collaborative environment where individuals work as a team to solve problems. As a technical person in my old job I would never had the opportunity to learn about business development or sales, however, at Mantis I've been pulled in to prospective deals and asked my input. I work closely with the senior management, and feel like I can ask the owners anything. The people I work with were chosen by a strict set of hiring guidelines that demand integrity, intelligence, drive, passion, customer focus, adaptability, and personality fit, as well as technical skill. Mantis is also a place where any employee can learn a new technology and if we have a customer with a need, and an employee with an aptitude and interest, then they are free to expand their career while satisfying our customer.
Kontras
Being a small (though fast growing) company, Mantis sometimes has a wide fluctuation in workload. We may have months where projects have a delayed start and other months where they all seem to have deliverables at once. With slightly over 100 employees the fluctuations that create a surplus or deficit of employees per project are immediately felt when we are short 5 or more people or when we have 4 too many. I expect that as we grow this fluctuation will smooth out and the changes will not feel as dramatic.