Pros
The recruiting team does a great job at hiring people who are smart, willing to help, and are aligned to the mission. I’ve met some great people that I would call friends. Net Promoter Score is impressive and we have some customers who’ve been hired which is a positive sign that we can deliver value. One of the perks of being an employee (and my partner benefits too) is having unlimited access to a coach, as well as the freedom to work remotely without any pressure to be in an office. This flexibility aligns well with my family responsibilities. This job is pushing me in unexpected ways- both good and bad. You have to have thick skin and a lot of patience for the constant revolving door of change if you’ve never been at a start up.
Cons
The execs are a case study of what not to do to scale a company. A business school will have fun analyzing where we went wrong. It’s a red flag that at this stage of growth we put random leaders into important roles like product, marketing, or sales. For example, the Chief of staff of the founder is currently managing the global sales team. The reality is that as a quota carrier, you are just a number, and there is no acknowledgement of how unpredictable the market is. No AE has repeated success, no matter how much effort you put in. It shouldn’t be this hard. In the last few weeks there have been a list of resignations, and it might get worse since one of the most admired female leaders announced that she is leaving the company. The current approach is all about “high performance”, which is code for leaders being forced by HR to put people on PIPs or quietly let them go. I lost count on how many people we fired last year this way. Just sad that our culture is where it is today.