Pros
The office is well-designed, but that does not make up for the toxic environment. Some employees are incredibly smart and hardworking, but they are often overlooked, overworked, or pushed out.
Cons
This company does not function like a real business. Every decision, every promotion, every policy is dictated by one person’s mood—the CEO. The CEO is the root of every issue. The business is not run based on strategy, data, or expertise—it is run on his personal whims. He hires experienced leaders, then fires them the second they challenge him or try to implement real solutions. Employees have to wait until he is in a good mood to get approvals or even ask simple questions. Unprofessional and demeaning leadership style. The CEO frequently insults employees, calling them “idiots,” saying they wasted their education, and blaming them for the company’s failures—even when those failures are the direct result of his decisions. Instead of listening to experienced professionals, he spent all of 2024 forcing employees to compete with a group of interns and making business decisions based entirely on what those interns told him. Toxic workplace culture. Employees live in fear of him to the point where they check if his car is in the parking lot before making moves. He blames the hardest-working teams for the company’s problems while refusing to acknowledge his own role in the decline. Racism, favoritism, and unethical hiring practices. Employees were explicitly told not to hire models with medium to dark skin tones because the CEO was upset when he saw a darker-skinned model in the building. When employees raised concerns, HR’s response was to hire models with darker skin “10% of the time” instead. Leadership and HR did nothing to address these unethical practices, and employees were forced to work against their own morals. HR protects leadership, not employees. HR is not a resource for employees—they exist to protect the CEO. Complaints about workplace issues are ignored, dismissed, or used against you. Employees do not report problems because they know nothing will change, and their concerns may even be gossiped about. Leaders are not allowed to lead. The CRO and CMO are not bad people, and in another company, they could be great leaders. But in this job market, they have no choice but to be yes-men because the CEO makes every decision himself. Leadership is afraid to challenge him because they know he will fire them just like he has fired countless others. Promotions are empty promises. Employees were promised mid-year promotions after taking on extra work. When the time came, they were denied because leadership was afraid to ask the CEO for more money. Hardworking employees were strung along with false hope while others moved up based on favoritism, not merit. Employee perks have been stripped away. When recruiting, the company sells itself with perks like free lunches, Summer Fridays, and flexible work-from-home policies. But over time, those perks quietly disappeared. Employees were allowed three work-from-home days per month, but if the CEO walked around and saw empty desks, he would get angry and punish teams for using them. The CEO thinks he is the best at everything—but does not understand basic business principles. He truly believes he is the best marketer, best accountant, and best strategist, yet his decisions consistently hurt the business. Instead of listening to industry experts, he ignores data, dismisses feedback, and refuses to take responsibility when things go wrong. Layoffs have been handled with no respect for employees. Entire teams were let go with no warning or transparency. In some cases, employees had to schedule their own termination meetings. Those who remained were expected to absorb the extra work immediately, with no additional compensation or conversation about workload.