Pros
- Working remotely is wonderful for work/life balance. - Most people are friendly and want the best for others. - The CEO genuinely cares about the employees and the product. - Treadmills in office. - Leadership and others promote healthy living. - The product has a positive impact on lives. - Focus is on innovation.
Cons
- There are some systemic issues with product strategy and development. They can't afford to stumble so often in this department if they intend to meet the company's high expectations. - Thinking about innovation is a really good thing, but there needs to be better balance between noodling dreams and creating product, given their resources. - Leadership feels a little too corporate under their startup costumes. - Exec leaders seem to enter a situation with their opinion already set and no amount of talking or persuading helps direct them, despite their claim of being open. This comes off as a lack of trust in their employees. I questioned whether this was just my experience, but several colleagues who quit while I was there and after I left echoed this sentiment as well. - Exec leaders have a tendency to be condescending. There's a very "parents telling their kids what to do" aura about Retrofit, which leads to rigidity and lack of feeling respected. - All developers contracted from the same overseas agency create issues with efficiencies, communication, and healthy balance of opinions and experience. Using junior devs for these important projects under tight deadlines can be a fatal mistake. - Working remotely can be great, but you have to know how to do it. It can cause problems with efficiencies and true listening. - A LOT of talking and meetings, but nothing seems to stick. I had to repeat myself too often. - I spent over a year creating products/documentation/process that leadership hired me to create, but then ignored. I tried every which way to communicate it but they couldn't hear me. I feel leadership was holding back their employees because they were trying to control too much. - One of the company values is being candid, but its not lived. On some teams, it borders on walking on eggshells when there is any kind of challenge. - I think the company needs a more effective and less manipulative CTO, who communicates better and knows how to hire and lead.
