Granola
Small (~50)
Poolside
Small (~150)
Best For
Granola
Best for: Craft-focused generalists who love native macOS development and want to build a consumer-quality AI product people genuinely love
Poolside
Best for: AI researchers who want frontier code generation work with genuine remote flexibility and Paris offsites
Ratings
GranolaPoolside
4.8
3.8
Overall
4.5
3.5
Work-Life Balance
5.0
3.9
Culture & Values
4.5
3.8
Comp & Benefits
5.0
3.6
Senior Mgmt
4.7
3.6
Career Opps
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Sam Stephenson)
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Jason Warner)
Culture Values
Granola only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate💎 Strong Comp & Equity🎯 Direct Product Impact
Poolside only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🤝 Flat Hierarchy🌱 Learning & Growth
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🧩 Wears Many Hats
Pros & Cons
Granola
- Users absolutely love the product — everyone at Granola genuinely cares about quality
- Plenty of opportunities to work on things that make a real difference on a small team
- 5 days in office by default (with flexibility for life circumstances)
- Small team, so things can be busy — you'll wear many hats
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
Granola
Choose Granola if you want to work on one of the most loved AI products with a small, London-based, in-office team obsessed with craft — but note the 5-days-in-office policy is explicit and non-negotiable.
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
Granola — 16 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
6
💻 Engineering
4
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Poolside — 12 jobs
💻 Engineering
9
📊 Data
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Granola scores 4.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.5 work-life balance rating. Poolside scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 3.5 WLB. That’s a 1.0-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Wears Many Hats. Granola also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Poolside also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Flat Hierarchy, Learning & Growth.
On the hiring front, Granola has 16 open roles and Poolside has 12 open roles.