Eventbrite reviews about "favoritism"

I quit Eventbrite as soon as I was able. Despite the nice office/perks and facade of a "fun company culture", I did not enjoy working at Eventbrite. Don't be fooled by all the hyped 5-star reviews by entry-level new hires who don't know any better (yet). 1. Senior leader(s) of my department created a toxic, uncomfortable working environment. Complained to me about my own peers/colleagues, putting them down behind their backs. I've never experienced such unprofessionalism, and I was really disappointed about this. Given how frequently this happened, it was very hard to trust my managers: seeing them pretend to care about an employee, only to turn around the next moment and complain about them. I don't doubt that they've done the same to me. 2. Unappreciative. Leaders take their most diligent employees for granted. Constantly made heavy demands of the team to meet deadlines, but did NOT take the time to understand whether we had enough resources. Because of this, team would kill themselves working long hours just to hit deadlines, and management WON'T go out of their way to acknowledge dedication and hard work. On the other hand, if anything is less-than-perfect, then fingers ARE pointed and you'll get facetime with upper management to talk about what they don't like about you or your work. 3. No actual work/life balance. I was expected to return emails/calls in the evenings at home and while I was on vacation. I felt judged by my leaders whenever I asked to take any of my "unlimited PTO", even though I took less PTO than most others on my team. They were definitely counting days and letting you know they didn't like it. 4. Clique-y and cultist culture. Like a few others here have written, if you don't live and breathe Eventbrite, you don't fit in. Managers show favoritism.

The organization, particularly its executive leadership, is in denial about having a strategy when said strategy is nothing but high-level philosophical fluff. The lack of a clear strategy results in functions within the org having conflicting priorities. Executive leadership don't take the time to understand their customers and come up with ideas that are not grounded in what is best for the business. A lot of time is spent making decks and "communicating" to such executives, leaving not a lot of time for actual work to be done. Most of the best Product leaders have left the company as a result. Those who excel here are exceptionally gifted at story-telling, often at the expense of real, rigorous strategic thought. There is also a level of favoritism as mentioned by other reviews that renders people of a certain demographic and personality to do better than others. Those who are more thoughtful, introverted, and in minority groups - beware when joining this company. There are inherent biases that will make working here more difficult, unless you come from a Big Tech company such as Google, Amazon (executives value these brands).

Eventbrite is what is known as a sycophantic culture. You MUST drink the very scary orange cool aid aggressively pushed into your face from the CEO all the way down to the sheep like ICs. It’s very disturbing. If you don’t chug it and finish with a cheeky orange grin, you are ostracized. Even worse, if you speak up and/or raise an idea contrary to the company line, you are put out to pasture, ignored, excluded and ultimately made useless. I’ve never seen an organization that is so roundly dysfunctional and brainwashed. The irony is that they champion their “culture,” but it is little more than window dressing, the core of which is forced indoctrination with a splash of frivolous and ultimately valueless “perks.” Leadership is a hot mess and in way over their heads. Strategy is non-existent. Merit is ignored, while high school level cliques and favoritism reign. Again, another irony being that good ideas and novel thoughts are pushed aside despite the dire need for innovation and a fresh perspective. No sour grapes here. I only lasted a few months because I saw the writing on the wall early. Not to mention that they have abandoned some of the very most important players in the event space for who knows what reason after making the pandemic an excuse to cut most of the company lose to make up for horrendous business decisions (TicketFly acquisition). Sound like Silicon Valley disaster? Sound like the type of solid future you’d like to be a part of? You’d be better off joining a cult. No wonder that most of the bright people left or were pushed out. What remains is a weak group of groveling boot lickers. Don’t join this company.