Granola
Small (~50)
Vast AI
Small (~30)
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
Vast AI
Best for: Scrappy generalists who want a front-row seat to the AI compute revolution
Ratings
GranolaVast AI
4.8
5.0
Overall
4.5
3.8
Work-Life Balance
5.0
5.0
Culture & Values
4.5
5.0
Comp & Benefits
5.0
5.0
Senior Mgmt
4.7
5.0
Career Opps
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Sam Stephenson)
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Jake Cannell)
Culture Values
Granola only
🎯 Direct Product Impact
Vast AI only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate💎 Strong Comp & Equity🧩 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
Vast AI
- Front-row seat to the AI compute revolution — demand for GPU cloud is surging
- Strong compensation and generous equity stakes for a bootstrapped startup
- Processes are still being defined — expect ad hoc workflows
- Intense workload — the team explicitly values high output
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.
Vast AI
Choose Vast AI if you want perfect Glassdoor scores and generous equity at a tiny GPU marketplace — but expect startup chaos.
Open Roles
Granola — 16 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
6
💻 Engineering
4
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Vast AI — 9 jobs
💻 Engineering
6
🧠 ML / AI
2
Summary
Granola scores 4.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.5 work-life balance rating. Vast AI scores 5.0/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Strong Comp & Equity, Wears Many Hats. Granola also emphasizes Direct Product Impact. Vast AI also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy.
On the hiring front, Granola has 16 open roles and Vast AI has 9 open roles.