Pros
-Quality work, great exit opportunities. -High ownership of workstream, great learning opportunities. -Smart and motivated peer group, great for networking since everyone goes on to really good places -Pay is great for the impact space, but not enough for consulting.
Kontras
-All power centralized with founder, no space for anyone else. -Systems of the org are very ad-hoc, very cult-y feeling around the founder, firm and culture. -It has aspirations of being a top tier org, so laid off 40% of its workforce to make room for excessive tier 1 campus hiring that doubled the size of the org. -Expect to be marked down severely during appraisals, combined with an up or out culture mirroring McKinsey. -Most programs/projects of the org on shaky ground. -The company has an extreme work culture, expect to work most weekends and have daily/weekly calls scheduled for the AM. -You will be working from state capitals and also be expected to maintain a residence in Delhi for org events, which happen on weekends because Samagra is a cult. Flight/train tickets are provided only from project location to Delhi. -There is zero empathy for anyone in the management, your only support can be your team. -It is common for everyone in the org to openly dislike the founder and the firm, makes for a bleak situation where the average tenure is barely a year. Everyone is focused on making it out ASAP.