Chaotic Product Roadmaps & Poorly Designed Management Teams
Pros
Free lunch on Wednesdays and beers on Fridays was nice. The product is very unique and the content is very exciting. Something for everyone. Being an extension of Amazon was a benefit sometimes as you could take advantage of highly qualified inventory on the website. It is a good company to have on your CV if you are a newly qualified graduate as there aren't many very senior people with technical industry experience in the company, so it is not hard to bridge the gap once you're in the company.
Cons
Lots of in-fighting between senior managers which made it difficult to work with other teams. Everything is approved via the US, therefore the London and Berlin offices have no real autonomy. External agencies treated like pests rather than treated and respected as extensions of the Audible UK team. This is no way to manage agencies. Assumption from US management that the UK market should deliver the same performance as the US despite the US being a vastly bigger market. Heads of marketing not technical at all which causes them to agree to wildly unachievable targets. Highly skilled contractors treated like third class employees despite having more training, more technical knowledge and more experience than the admin heavy management teams. No support or training given to employees who politely ask for cost effective training options. Poor work life balance contributes to high level of burnout and stress among employees.
