[bengl3rt]

Done. Looking forward to seeing the other responses pile up!

One thing I'd like to know is how much of the things we perceive externally about a company on account of their messaging/reputation are actually true - I've had a couple of jobs that ended up being radically different from what was advertised. My new policy is to always connect with current and former employees on LinkedIn/Twitter/over beer to find out what it's really like.

[DamonOehlman]

Thanks for the response Ben. That's a really good point actually. In my initial responses I left off a couple of companies because I have known people who have worked there and then moved on. Not always because they didn't like the place, but more because they felt their goals had changed and were now different from their employers...

[DamonOehlman]

Also I really identify with what you put in the "Why" column. Are there any particular companies in your list that you feel match this more than others?

[bengl3rt]

Hmm, I feel like Acunu and Mixpanel would let me focus on my first love (C/systems hacking), Acunu and Fastly would let me be the most active in open source, and ThoughtWorks would have the most travel (that's right, folks, I actually want to travel for business - I like going places but vacations bore me).

This is all conjecture of course as I've worked at exactly 0 of the places I've listed :)