16 Aug 2017
Anonymous employee
Benetech Response
7yThanks for spending the time reflecting on your time at Benetech, and bringing up the pros and cons from your personal experience.
I completely agree about our mission and that our team is here to make a difference. We attract smart, passionate and committed people because of our mission and our work. It certainly isn’t for the stock options, because as a nonprofit charity, we don’t have any! While our salaries are high by nonprofit standards, we will never win a bidding war with Facebook or an overfunded startup.
Our mission is to respond to huge social needs, and we are always asked to do far more than we have the time or the budget to do. If we don’t do the work, it typically won’t be done. So, yes we do stretch to do more all of the time. One thing I can tell you is that the intense pressure to put in long hours and sacrifice your personal and family life is not part of the Benetech culture. Flexibility is, combined with the expectation that you will do a great job. Many of us have been in high-pressure startup environments, and the fact that we can use our skills to do social good and have a life is a great bargain. Finally, we’re very proud of the lower turnover rate and longevity of service of many of our team compared to typical tech companies. We think it’s a real asset in the social impact field, where relationships and trust are so important.
Jim Fruchterman, Benetech CEO