Companies like these do exist. I think if you looks for smaller companies, bootstrapped companies, and/or companies that are run by their founders who managed

Companies like these do exist. I think if you looks for smaller companies, bootstrapped companies, and/or companies that are run by their founders who managed to retain control and valued culture you'll find folks who are more values driven. At some level though, you need management to be focused enough on revenue to keep the lights on, and make sure you are getting raises and career progression. (I do think like many posters have mentioned, there are teams within bigger companies that are values driven with good management that shields ICs from the bigger org challenges -- until they don't) The incentives do change when outside money is involved. A few ideas: - Companies that serve values driven industries (gov, nonprofits, medical) - B-corps - Bootstrapped Companies - Higher Education / Research Labs Some examples: - https://www.olark.com/values https://www.olark.com/values (company I founded - which fits your target, but isn't currently hiring) - https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/ https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/ - https://smallgiants.org/ https://smallgiants.org/ - https://www.usworker.coop/directory/ https://www.usworker.coop/directory/ My guess is smaller companies in general will have less politics and more autonomy. If I were in your shoes I'd take a look at: - https://buffer.com/journey https://buffer.com/journey (founder retained enough control to drive culture) - https://automattic.com/work-with-us/ https://automattic.com/work-with-us/ (I've always admired wordpress and the team behind it, they've been customers multiple times and they've been a joy to work with) - https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/results/searchResult.html https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/externa... (I am a former academic, the pay isn't great, but lots of cool problems to work on, search for "media lab", teams are small enough politics is likely less of an issue) fun problem to solve, I am curious where you'll land.