A Shift in Company Culture - Anonymous employee Opentrons Employee Review

1.0
May 10, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The industry that Opentrons is trying to "disrupt" is positively helping the world. There is always something to fix and keep you on your toes. There are still some fantastic people at the company.

Cons

It's become apparent that significant shifts are underway, prompting a reevaluation of the company's ethos and practices. Historically, our company has been lauded for its embrace of open-source principles and its dynamic startup culture. However, there has been a noticeable departure from these foundational values recently. The gradual transition towards a more proprietary model raises questions about our direction. Internally, there is a palpable sense of apprehension among employees, with many feeling uncertain about their future within the company. This atmosphere of uncertainty has implications for morale and productivity, underscoring the importance of transparent communication and clarity regarding organizational objectives. Moreover, there appears to be a growing disparity between the company's vision and execution. While the company once prided itself on being customer-centric, there is a disconnect between customer feedback and product development initiatives. This divergence threatens to erode the trust and loyalty of our customer base. Additionally, more structured training and support are needed for employees navigating new products, and customer-facing teams need more resources to adapt to unfamiliar technologies. The current system is leading to frustration and diminished customer experiences. In conclusion, while change is inevitable in any organization, we must remain true to the principles that have defined us. Current employees, take stock of the company's direction and ask yourself if it aligns with the original mission. Prospective employees, if you are looking for a collaborative, dynamic, open-source startup, tread lightly.

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Opentrons Response
2y
Like many life science companies and tech startups in particular, our organization has experienced various stages of growth and change. We want to acknowledge your concerns about full transparency between leadership and employees, and we strive to remain as open as possible to foster a collaborative environment and a well-informed team. As we expand our product line to include proprietary offerings, we continue to value openness and accessibility as our core tenets. We stand by the innovation and integrity on our product side and the incredible work done by all of our employees to listen to customer needs and bring our ideas to the market. We will continue to prioritize both internal and external training, providing free webinars and a public knowledge-base of technical content to ensure that employees and customers can remain informed about using our products to their maximum potential. As we increase our offerings, we will also grow our available knowledge-base. We appreciate you and all of our amazing team for sticking by us as we develop. Thank you for sharing your feedback.

Explore other reviews about Opentrons

5.0
Oct 8, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Innovative, strong product, great culture

Cons

No many, as a startup there are growing pains, but the leadership team is thoughtful and makes good decisions

2.0
Apr 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- The people. The long-time employees of the company were some of the best folks I've had the pleasure of working with. Dedicated to the mission, always willing to help, and generally smart, cool, and pleasant to be around. I also really did believe in the mission, but it's hard to accomplish it when you keep laying off/scaring away the people who can actually build the tech. - Pay and benefits were decent but raises barely cover inflation. Don't expect a promotion.

Cons

- Diversity slowly being sucked from the company leadership. The team used to be filled with all kinds of people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences--and this was something that was valued. People were encouraged to take ownership over their work and share ideas, but now the culture encourages you to just keep your head down and get your work done, don't ruffle any feathers or you're next on the chopping block. - Badly mismanaged. Some folks are extremely competent while others make you wonder how they ever became upper-level management. This has caused a lot of the most empathetic and intelligent managers to leave, being backfilled by people who don't seem to know what they're doing. - Constant layoffs. There's very little sense of security and morale continues to dip without ever recovering. - Women and minorities are generally treated poorly. Micro-aggressions, quiet demotions, and being excluded/talked over/ignored is too common. - Burnout. You are expected to do a lot of work

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