Why Convoy?

I interviewed at a few companies where I believed my goals will be fulfilled and my learnings maximized, but I was open to be surprised by some companies. I got offers from 3 startups at different stages and sizes, some even on the verge of IPO, but I still picked Convoy. Why?

Perfect Company Stage

I wasn’t sure how to evaluate the risk and reward of joining a startup and what startup stage would give me the experience I was looking for. Tim Prouty, VP of engineering at Convoy, shared with me this graph, which helped me a lot in the decision making.

Where Convoy stands today on the typical startup growth lifecycle

Looking at this graph, it was clear that Convoy is going through an inflection point toward hyper-growth. The company has just passed the point of extreme risk and is shifting gears to start growing rapidly — a priceless time to join. From an experience standpoint, I could learn a lot if I join as the company scales. And financially, it was a balanced risk/reward compromise as Convoy could potentially double, triple, or even 10x in size, market share, and valuation.

I eventually had to ask myself a difficult question. What would I regret more, staying at a big company or leaving for a startup?

I immediately knew that if I missed the experience that comes from joining a startup at hyper-growth, I would definitely regret it more.

Incredible Engineering Talent

One of the common fears and misconceptions about leaving a big tech company and going to a startup is leaving behind a team of rock star engineers, and downgrading the talent you work with. Will I be learning and challenged every day at work? Will I find mentorship and growth opportunities at a startup? That was a legitimate concern.

It’s worth mentioning that I came to the onsite loop at Convoy to practice interviewing, but left dying to work with these people! True story :) Convoy exceeded my expectation in terms of tech talent. I left the company after the onsite with so much respect for the engineering team at Convoy. Everyone was so sharp both on the technical and product side, and most of them had experience working at big tech companies or starting their own startups, giving them a rich depth and breadth that reflected on Convoy’s engineering culture. I had a lot to learn from these people. Every day at work, I am fascinated by people’s backgrounds and humbled to be working alongside such incredible talent.

Modern Tech Stack

To make the technical experience worth it, I always asked about the tech stack wherever I interviewed. Convoy’s tech stack was very modern and compelling; it had a lot of the ingredients I wanted to add to my skill set. While I tried learning some of these technologies on the side in my previous job, it’s not the same as using them at work and learning from experienced engineers around.

I have to say that the first few weeks at Convoy were beyond overwhelming. Most of the tech stack was new to me. It was a steep learning curve, and I am still learning every day.

Convoy’s Tech Stack

Company Values and Influencing the Culture

As a people person, the team and company culture really matter to me. I can’t handle toxic environments even if they have the smartest people on the planet. I would happily give up the technical learning in exchange for a diverse and healthy team, but it would be pretty awesome if I could get both!

Even though I hadn’t accepted an offer from Convoy yet, the engineering team invited me a few times for lunches, happy hours, and casual 1:1s. I was encouraged to know the people and get a good sense of the company culture. Company values were truly alive in the team, not only posters on the walls. I also learned about a lot of diversity and inclusion initiatives across the company. Everyone seemed happy and passionate. Every time, I came home more excited to join Convoy.

Later after I joined Convoy, I understood what made the team fantastic. Convoy sets a high bar in both technical competency and values fit in their hiring process, which is extremely hard to achieve, especially at such an early company stage. There is zero tolerance for brilliant jerks around here, and that makes it a delightful place to work! And the best part about working at a startup that profoundly cares about culture is having the chance to influence the culture and pave the road for those joining after you.

Trucking Deserves Better

While exploring startups and finding interesting ones to apply for, I found all sorts of industries. However, it is extremely rare to find an industry that is completely undisrupted by tech. What’s even harder is finding a tech startup innovating in the space and doing it successfully.

Trucking is a very complex industry. Everything that we consume, the food we eat, the furniture we own, and the construction materials of our homes have been on a truck at some point! The number of stakeholders involved in a shipment and the hell of manual and inefficient logistics it goes through is really shocking. By introducing more automation and efficiency in the process, Convoy is fundamentally changing how shippers and carriers do business in an industry that is hungry for innovation and change. From the business side, that’s what made Convoy stand out for me amongst other tech startups I have seen.