Pros
- Brigit is working on an important problem in a dynamic and fast-growing space. It is an exciting time to be building fintech products and even more exciting to do it for a customer base that desperately needs fairer financial services -The membership structure is exciting and new in the area and could be a promising way to approach financial services in the future -There are a lot of great people - and the engineering culture is particularly strong with people willing to help each other out and share insights with their colleagues
Cons
-Brigit is not living up to its mission. Brigit is ultimately a lending company providing $ to people who need it that are living paycheck-to-paycheck. While the company advertises that they are willing to lend $250, that is not the experience for the majority of users. People can also be not approved to borrow while paying for the service which is just wrong. Being a "mission-driven company" is an active choice to effectively balance your user's needs with the company's need to be a profitable business. I think Brigit has no idea how to do that ethically and effectively. -The company lacks product leadership. The founders have strong technical and banking backgrounds but have not demonstrated that they know how to think critically about user needs and translate that into a product that people love. Instead, they obsess over competitors and look to replicate what is in the market. That is not an enduring competitive advantage and this is certainly not a company driven by user needs and product-first thinking. -The company is not generous. They don't know how to incentivize and treat people well and it shows in the compensation, perks, and general approach to people management. Employees should not have to show other offers for raises, complain about equity packages to be treated fairly, the list goes on. This is particularly true in terms of how the customer experience team is treated - with wages so low that they would be in the same boat as many of the users of the product. Paying people ~40k in a crucial function of the company when Brigit has raised 30+ million is just wrong. -The CEO is toxic and needs to be replaced. Shouting at your employees is not acceptable, and the fragility of your ego puts the company at risk.
