They Might Be Giants - Engineer Promega Employee Review

4.0
Nov 10, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Unique culture. Very Wisconsin no matter where in the world you may be working for Promega. Very, very, very, very smart chemists; some outstanding non-science folks, too.

Cons

Promega has these magic chemistries that can solve several of the world's most pressing problems; I'm not exaggerating here. It sells some for RUO, some to bigfish biotech, and many forever languish in the dark corners of RDC. Why? Search for... Usona, Bill Linton, Kellner and Bland, lawsuit, lawsuit. Dane County, lawsuit. Until and unless the struggle for control is resolved, no major business decisions will be made. Bill is too busy with Usona and the lawsuit; nobody under him will do anything because lawsuit and, who knows, maybe new CEO, then IPO. In the meanwhile... the Turner operation bought in 2009 has been happily run into the ground. PBK may be getting there, too. That's best-in-class hardware that Promega never figured out how to sell, keep current, and build upon. Promega, culturally, is a reagent company. These reagents will not take over the world by themselves. Your choices are: Make the hardware yourselves, partner with the bigfish or perhaps smallfish who can do hardware, or contract it out and put your label on it. Experimentally it's been proven that the first and last choices don't work until/unless management gets serious about selling these things, and in the middle case there isn't much profit. Tragic.

Explore other reviews about Promega

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Anonymous freelancer
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good culture and location, honestly a nice environment

Cons

It does require lots of work

4.0
Jan 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Promega is kind of an old-school company, in the best sense. They hire people who are the best fit for the company, not just who may have the best credentials (but this is more important in R&D and product management roles). I've seen so many cases where someone really started at ground zero in terms of experience and rose up the ranks. It goes to show you that they do invest in their people, and that is why there's so many who have stuck around for decades. In my experience management is highly supportive of learning, innovation, and creativity, so if you have a good idea that shows promise you'll probably have the opportunity to explore it.

Cons

At times, there is such a strong focus on the newest thing, with the priorities changing very quickly. Due to this there are cases when there isn't enough time to develop a fully mature product, or gauge it's effectiveness. To be fair this is a problem in most organizations, but you can end up feeling a little disoriented by the rapidly shifting landscape. I would say this could be a challenging environment for someone who is slow to adapt or pick up new technical skills.

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