Next Monday I start a new job at Walk Score, a Seattle startup that promotes walkability by producing a measure incorporating information on nearby businesses and attractions. You can learn more about the company here.
From a mission standpoint, the appeal of this company to me is obvious to anyone that knows me well. I care a lot about resource consumption issues (which is what initially attracted me to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for my postdoc), having a good commute (good to me is being able to conveniently reach work by transit, foot, or bike), and having tools to assist in finding a home that has sufficient nearby attractions. I like the languages and tools used at Walk Score, and this job is going to give me an opportunity to learn a bunch of new technologies. I will be making contributions that are visible and are valuable to the company, and my contributions will be used by a large number of users every day (a number that I intend to help grow), which I find very motivating.
Also, don’t forget that I really enjoy compelling and informative visualization. I like Walk Score’s heat maps (here’s Seattle)!
As for my commute: I had a pretty good set up for my job at Microsoft. I was walking to work daily since I live just down the hill. Since Walk Score is in Seattle (and I live in Redmond) it is a more complicated. I will start on a bike and bus commute and expect that to work pretty well for me most of the time.