Adyen
Large (~4,770)
Poolside
Small (~150)
Best For
Adyen
Best for: Payments and backend engineers who value a no-nonsense engineering-first culture with above-average WLB and the challenge of processing global financial transactions at massive scale
Poolside
Best for: AI researchers who want frontier code generation work with genuine remote flexibility and Paris offsites
Ratings
AdyenPoolside
3.8
3.8
Overall
4.1
3.5
Work-Life Balance
3.9
3.9
Culture & Values
3.8
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.6
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.6
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Ingo Uytdehaage)
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Jason Warner)
Culture Values
Adyen only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate⚖️ Work-Life Balance🎯 Direct Product Impact
Poolside only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🌱 Learning & Growth
Pros & Cons
Adyen
- Smart, humble colleagues with high standards and a market-leading payments product
- Good work-life balance with trust-based culture, free lunch, and international team trips
- Below-market compensation (~20% less than peers) with poor stock options
- Middle management quality issues as company scaled — inexperienced managers and internal politics
Poolside
- Remote-first with monthly Paris gatherings
- Cutting-edge code generation research
- Early-stage with limited structure
- Comp may trail larger AI labs
Bottom Line
Adyen
Adyen's engineering culture is well-regarded in fintech — principled, WLB-conscious (4.1/5), and technically rigorous — but expect a methodical Amsterdam-centric culture rather than a high-growth startup vibe.
Poolside
Choose Poolside if you want cutting-edge code AI research on a remote-first flat team (ex-GitHub CTO leadership) — but expect early-stage ambiguity and comp that trails the larger AI labs.
Open Roles
Adyen — 279 jobs
💻 Engineering
80
💼 Sales / GTM
65
⚖️ Legal
19
💰 Finance
14
⚙️ Operations
12
📋 Product
12
👤 HR / People
11
📊 Data
10
🎨 Design
5
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
2
Poolside — 12 jobs
💻 Engineering
9
📊 Data
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Adyen scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.1 work-life balance rating. Poolside scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 3.5 WLB. They’re tied on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Learning & Growth. Adyen also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Work-Life Balance, Direct Product Impact. Poolside also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Adyen has 279 open roles and Poolside has 12 open roles.