Many recent hires close to Series E got the raw deal with the really high price required to exercise and it seems like that exercise price was not clearly communicated to many of them and were sidelined as they got the price only after they joined. At this stage and with Applied's okay-ish growth trajectory compared to the stock market, it's a terrible financial deal. If you are joining the company now, it's not worth it with stock options.
At the current offer and stock option numbers, you're basically signing yourself into indentured servitude if you want to exercise the stock. The recruiters will throw buzzwords and numbers at you, but you need to step through the numbers and calculate whether it makes sense. Many people I know that joined at this stage regretted it. For the hours and especially for those with especially toxic managers it's not worth it.
For external recruiters doing reference checks on managers leaving Applied Intuition, I highly recommend getting as many reference checks on them from their reports as possible. Applied has created an environment where toxic management thrives – simply pushing people and extracting as much value out of them as possible without care for the person itself. Many people that do make it to be managers did so because they're people without lives outside, who thrive under the unkind and toxic environment, and are not empathetic. Be careful when recruiting anyone that managed here as Applied has ranks top on having one of the most toxic management and leadership in tech.
The company does not provide any other additional company holidays (not Thanksgiving, not Christmas) beyond the federal holiday minimum. You're left to contend with a pathetic 15 days of PTO. Sick days are at 6 (if you need more, you have to dip into PTO first). Apparently Applied also gives only California's legal minimum for bereavement.
The majority of the company is unhappy with our compensation and the CEO would fight back, saying well, these come from our newer hires who just have not seen as much stock growth.
You don't even have enough PTO to prepare for interviews. You work 50-60 hours a week. You're literally forced to work on weekends or stay responsive on slack. The really ironic reason why attrition isn't higher is because people simply don't have the time and energy to do well in other interviews once you start working here.
If you can pass the interviews here, you can clearly get better options elsewhere. At this stage, it's just not worth it. Run.
