Not a good place for software develpoers - Software Developer Red Ventures Employee Review

2.0
Aug 23, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The pay at Red Ventures is competitive with the market. It's not amazing, but it's fairly competitive. Red Ventures also offers "unlimited vacation". This is mostly true in practice. There is technically accrued vacation, but PTO is untracked. Breakfast tacos are catered twice a week which is pretty great. The kitchen is nicely stocked and the office manager is pretty responsive about food requests. I don't know if this is a Pro, but this is an easy job if you are looking for a place to coast. Not much is actually expected out of you as a software developer and a decently seasoned dev can fly under the radar easily. Don't be scared of the "we like to move fast" mantra that is thrown around. That really means, "You don't have to actually deal with the hard stuff."

Cons

The #1 problem with working at Red Ventures in Austin is job stability. Red Ventures has a long history of buying companies and closing remote offices down after a year or two. The "global office" does not know how to deal with remote offices. Firings and lay-offs have become a constant fear in Austin. The software situation is a mess due to most of the infrastructure from all offices being the product of halfway done proof-of-concepts. Many of the original developers have moved on or been "let go" so untangling the software stack is difficult. Management in Austin is generally disinterested in actually fixing problems. There is a culture of "looking good" so management is encouraged and rewarded for chasing the new shiny thing instead of building solid software. Dealing with problems becomes and after-hours responsibility of the developer. Growth path is mostly political. After ascending past a Junior level position, promotions become increasingly based on politics. This becomes a real problem once you have to start playing politics in Charlotte, NC from Austin, TX. At that point, you can either move to Charlotte or coast the rest of your tenure at the position you have. "Move fast and break stuff" actually means "POC is good enough for production - let's move on." - the job gets repetitive fast. You'll never be short on work because there is always the next shiny thing to chase, but you never dig into a problem either. One of their core values is "Everything is written in pencil." which has become an internal joke about how goals and requirements will change every week.

Explore other reviews about Red Ventures

5.0
Apr 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

People, benefits, pay, culture, etc.

Cons

Really hard to have a worklife balance.

4.0
May 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Strong ownership, opportunity to manage people early, great people, nice campus. You will work on interesting problems and external companies. Great training if the space interests you.

Cons

Business future is uncertain, up or out management principles. New senior leaders somewhat disconnected from the day-to-day. Commute from Charlotte is horrible.

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