Never worked here - Engineer Darkhive Employee Review

Amazing technology Fun smart team Challenging problems to solve Great on-site events

Startup life isn’t for everyone Not all employees are co-located

Over the last 6 months especially, Darkhive has really begun to hone in on what the company strategy is in order to compete in the crowded drone market. This tight focus has brought greater opportunities and for government contracts as well as clarity for the engineering team in what we are trying to achieve. The technical leaders in the engineering team have been empowered to drive the technical roadmap and to interface directly with the C-suite to ensure key initiatives are funded and the right engineering talent is in place to be able to execute those goals. I have also seen clear evidence that Darkhive truly believes in the professed values of curiosity, initiative, communication, humility, respect, and autonomy. Behaviors that do not align with those values are not allowed to continue even when that means making touch decisions for the good of the team. All employees receive stock options and that motivates me to continue pushing hard for the company to succeed since I know I will have the opportunity to financially benefit from that success down the road.

Honestly, last year was a tough one for the company. Leadership was still trying to figure out the stategy and identity for the company, so there were a lot of false starts and changing direction. It started to turn the corner in Q4 2025, and it has felt like a whole new company this year. We know who we are now and aren't getting as distracted by things that don't align with that. A couple explanations for ratings below: there isn't much diversity on the engineering team right now. It is basically all white men. The company overall is about 30% women, but that is mostly in leadership and corporate roles. As for work/life balance, we're a startup and right now that means being a bit scrappy, traveling a fair amount, and putting in extra hours when needed. Leadership does a good job of encouraging people to take time off when they need to and rewarding people for their hard work.