In 1993, our CEO and Founder, Rick Smith, set out on a mission to protect life. Since then, Axon, formerly TASER International, has grown into a NASDAQ-listed global market leader of life-saving products including TASERs, in-car cameras, body-worn cameras, and more. We decided to turn the cameras inwards to give you a sense of the fascinating, hilarious, and chaotic moments that come with working at a fast-paced tech company like Axon. 

Curious to hear more, and maybe find out where in the world is Uri Sandiego? Check out Episode 2 of “The Ride: Inside Axon” to get a closer look of what it’s like to work at a purpose-driven tech company, and learn more about our mission, vision, and people. Need to catch up? Find Episode 1 here.



Hear our story from our CEO Rick Smith and other employees

The Ride Episode 2

Check out Episode 2 of “The Ride: Inside Axon” to get a closer look of what it’s like to work at a purpose-driven tech company, and learn more about our mission, vision, and people.

ARTICLE: The Ride Episode 2

At Axon, we’re taking on some of society’s most pressing issues and setting ambitious goals to solve them. We have a futuristic mission that permeates and resonates throughout the organization and our customer base. Keeping law enforcement and community members safe is what drives us, and working towards that can prove for some interesting days on the job. 

On a typical workday, Axon has proven to be just a little bit different from your ordinary office environment. On your way into the office, you could see a drone or two zooming around outside the spaceship-like building. On your way to lunch, you could hear the popping of a TASER being discharged over the shouts of a training group from the rooftop. And on any given day, you could see a group of employees crowded around the atrium, cheering on teammates who have volunteered to take a TASER exposure. We take our mission very seriously, but we also find ways to keep it interesting around the office! 

Since the founding of our Axon Body cameras and Axon Evidence (Evidence.com), we have asked our customers to wear cameras while they work.  We thought it’d be interesting to turn the cameras inward while we work. If you’ve ever been curious to see the inner workings of a fast-paced tech company, we’d like to introduce you to “The Ride: Inside Axon.” 


The Ride: Inside Axon

At Axon, we’re taking on some of society’s most pressing issues and setting ambitious goals to solve them. We have a futuristic mission that permeates and resonates throughout the organization and our customer base.

The Ride

ARTICLE: The Ride

In 1993, when Axon (formerly known as Taser International) was founded, I was just beginning my undergraduate program at New Mexico State studying Electrical Engineering with a focus on Computer Engineering. I had dreamt that one day I would be designing products in which I could apply technical skills to creatively solve problems. Non-technical courses were a drag… “Of what value is MUS101?”, I would ask myself. It did not factor clearly into my career goals of designing high-tech electronics. I had a conscious burning desire to create products. That desire provided direction for my early career choices and it led to my career at Axon.

I am a strong believer that the experiences that life brings us, good or bad, are largely a result of the choices we’ve made in the past. Choices and decision making are inevitable. Whether we choose inaction or action, there are impacts, both positive and negative. I’ve found that over time, the effects of our choices become much more apparent. It is interesting to trace the path that got me from where I was to where I am today; to be part of an awesome company, working with great people, designing cool products that are changing the world. Perhaps I am just lucky, perhaps my choices played a role!

Career choices are pretty big ones. In making these choices, items I considered included: how my abilities fit with the role, will I be challenged to grow in this role, can my skill provide value to the organization, will I be happy working there over the long term, is the business providing value to society?

Sometimes it seems like out of the blue, opportunities come knocking at the door. That is how I felt when my college buddy called to see if I would be interested in interviewing with a medical device startup. I was working on my Masters in Electrical Engineering at the time and had received an offer from IBM to work in their computer chip design group when I was to graduate a year later. The exciting unknown startup, or a large prestigious company- this was my first major career choice (small vs large, highly focused role vs multiple subsystems, risky vs mature and secure). In the summer of 1998, I made the decision to take the startup opportunity, and never looked back.

Fast forward 5 years later to March of 2004, I had accomplished many of the things I wanted to at the startup. We successfully miniaturized the hardware of the medical device, while simultaneously improving the performance. Although improvements were achieved in hardware, the predictive algorithms of the device were still in development, and it seemed like it would be another 10 years before we would have a product that could be used in the field. It felt like the startup no longer aligned with my goals. I wanted to accomplish more. I wanted the products that I developed to have a tangible impact, and I did not want to wait a decade for the algorithm refinement and clinical studies. To avoid being a complacent employee, I decided that it was time to leave. 

I found an article about a local company called TASER International that was developing an interesting law enforcement product. Though I was not experienced in high voltage design, I did have some applicable experience, and most importantly, I felt that a career here would meet my goal of working on products that would have an immediate impact on society. The company at the time had a small engineering team of three full-time guys, one VP of engineering, one Mechanical Engineer and one Electrical Engineering manager, and an additional firmware contractor. What was amazing about the company was the passion of the people that I met; it felt like a startup company at the verge of exponential growth. Everyone at the company, it seemed like, was highly skilled and indispensable; it was fun and contagious. Much of this dynamic is still present today despite having grown quite a bit. We continue to drive ourselves as we evolve as a company, pushing technology even further with every iteration.

Today at Axon, I lead our video engineering team. I am involved in many of the design choices that our team members make, though each engineer is empowered to suggest and make key design decisions every single day. Their choices contribute to the whole. Every circuit component, every line of code, and every mechanical draft angle matters. As we grow, the stakes are higher. We are constantly having to make decisions that impact performance, size, cost, reliability, and time to market; the results of which, in turn, impact our customers and the communities they serve. Because this impact is incredibly important and truly saves lives; our day to day work is rewarding. To help fuel our growth, hiring choices have been critical for us as we look for talented individuals to join our team and drive creation of the next round of revolutionary products. In engineering, details matter. 

Today, we are working on our next-generation in-car system that will be one of the best, if not the best, systems on the market. This is due to the thoughtful decisions that have been made in its definition and design. We continue to learn from the past and challenge our thinking of the future, making impactful choices along the way as we design new technologies that enhance our customers’ experience. We desire to continue designing more compelling products that meet and exceed the needs of the present time. At Axon, we empower the team with the ability to make decisions and strive to create an environment where every engineer can contribute towards and reap the rewards of success of the company as they continue to build up. This is a part of who we are, reflected in several of our core values: “Own It” and “Aim Far.” 


Life is too short to have yet another job, with only so many working years. It’s an opportunity cost, and you should seek to find meaningful careers that align with your goals. The choices you make are key to a fulfilling and rewarding career. I hope that this helps you focus on the importance of your choices, and I would love to hear your thoughts. What critical choices have you made and what are their impacts on you today?


Check out Axon Career Opportunities here

Read about the choices and challenges that led Nache, our Director of Video Engineering, to Axon.

Choices

ARTICLE: Choices

"Is it a fact, or is it an opinion?" That's a question I find myself asking a lot, both at work, and in my personal life. It's easy to state our opinions. We see something, we make a judgment rooted in our experiences, and the words come out. Truth, on the other hand, takes time. Getting to the truth requires more listening than talking. It means being open to learning, having perspective, and uncovering nuance. It takes introspection and consideration. In software development, teams latch on to catchphrases like "fail fast" or "move fast and break things." These philosophies encourage organizations to build and release software quickly. However, they also hinder the teams' ability to interpret the environment before it becomes altered by their solutions. In my search for truth, I ask whether a statement is a fact or opinion because I want to know whether folks have taken time to consider nuance and perspective.

Since joining Axon, something I have learned is that first responders often don't have much time. Depending on the information they are told, they must move at varying rates of “fast”. The need for lights and sirens doesn't make the truth any less important though. My team is building software that provides first responders with information before they get on the scene. While we can't ensure that the citizens who report incidents are truthful, we can equip first responders with tools that lead to identifying the truth. Neither Axon nor first responders can afford to "fail fast" when it comes to actually saving lives.

I've talked with a lot of software development folks in my product management career, whether it be at conferences, in interviews, or online. There's often a desire for product managers to have some grandiose vision or some fantastic solution that can be proven significant through iteration. The truth is, I don't know all the answers on how software can save lives. My grandiose vision is that I will help build and collaborate with a diverse and thoughtful team that's open to learning with me about all the problems that exist in and around public safety. I am fortunate to be working with the most diverse team I have ever worked with and as Axon and my team continue to grow, I'm hopeful that we will be able to encourage even more diversity. To truly save lives, we'll need to ensure that we remember that truth is not as easy as listening to one person's opinion or perspective. Truth is much more complex and challenging, but discovering it is essential.

Learn about our Principal Product Manager, Tricia's take on truth and why it is so important in the work that we do.

Smart Weapons

Cameras

Software

Accelerate / 2020

Overview

Axon Body 3

Accelerate / 2020

News

About Axon

The Ride Episode 2

The Ride

Choices

The Importance of Truth