What are exciting companies you'd love to work at?

Felt.com, because multiplayer web mapping is cool to me (think "Google Docs for maps").

OpenSolar and Aurora, who make web based solar design apps (like rooftop layouts and other things).

NREL.gov, because working with renewables researchers would be a dream for me (applied many times, never heard back /cry)

Starlink, even though it's Musk, because it's such a life-changing tech and a very hard interdisciplinary problem. Crazy engineering that still feels like sci-fi to me.

Rivian, because they seem more functional/grounded than Teslas. I would love a working man's EV utility vehicle rather than a futuristic spaceship.

In general, I just like smallish companies that have applied real-world uses solving immediate problems.

AI is up and coming but right now it feels like the industry is still in its infancy and not sure what problems it can solve yet, and mostly they're just frontends on top of a few API providers. Excited to see how it evolves, but so far it's not a field I'd want to work in yet (not that I'm qualified to anyway).

I'm no math genius, but I enjoy mathematical modeling. To me, it's kind of the closest thing to magic we have in the real world in that you can use equations to represent a model for how something works in the real world and use it for decision making. A lot of companies do optimization using things like linear programming or more advanced methods and it's really cool. It's also so freaking satisfying once you get everything working.

The regional grid operators in the US and elsewhere are also pretty cool to work for with constant challenges and a hyper-rapidly evolving industry. It can be both exciting and boring at times, but the boring is made up for via job security. No layoffs pretty much ever. Utilities on the other hand get bought out a lot and lay people off all the time, but they can also be exciting.

Lately, I've thought it would be cool to work for an agricultural robot/equipment company. Interesting problems (computer vision, system control, navigation, etc.) and working on something that could actually help the world...

I'd love to work at Atomic Semi, pushing what I suspect is essentially the on demand "3d printing" of ASICS. I'm not up for it health wise.

If I could, I'd love to be in a machine shop, making gears, learning CNC, etc. I want to figure out a way to do Power Skiving of Bevel Gears, mostly because it's supposedly impossible.

PS: Power skiving is amazing stuff -- it takes a 10 minute process and cuts it down to 30 seconds. check it out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EefFxEGVbWo

Linear is doing great in developing a solution for Task tracking and management. RavynOS is also a great project, I have always wondered about their releases. Then there's Paddle, building next stripe.

Janestreet(Ocaml)

Figma

Balsamiq — from their careers page “ We're not your typical software company.

We are people-focused and highly collaborative, debt-free, profitable, remote-first, generous, and prioritize longevity over growth.”

Bumble(the dating app)

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google(DeepMind), Mistral, Groq, Meta(AI).

Oxide is currently one of the most interesting companies IMHO.

https://oxide.computer/

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, NVidia