I liked how the small startup environment allowed me learn more about the overall structure of the data science and computer science sector, and I appreciated how the close knit community allowed me to take on different kinds of work outside of software engineering such as QA engineering and UX design.
What I wish was different
I wish that my role had included more aspects of software engineering since that was what I originally entered the company for position wise. I enjoyed taking on different tasks related to other parts of the company, but I feel that I would want a role that would allow me to also focus on software engineering as I was hoping to grow more as a programmer from my experience.
Advice
Don't be afraid to ask your supervisors for work that you want to do! You may not be successful in doing glamorous jobs and tasks, but it's a good learning experience to do grunt work nonetheless
