Madison Reed reviews about "people"

Office: 2-story open floor plan. You'll be sitting one-two feet away from someone on either side of you. There's absolutely no privacy and everyone gets to hear everyone else release gas, blow their nose, etc. B/c it's just desks smashed against each other, there's no place to stash your stuff. Your bag will be against the next person's ankle. If this is your first job, you won't know any better, but believe it or not, other companies at least provide a divider or several feet of space b/w you and the next person. Communication: Like saying Thank You to the person sitting next to you? Forget it. All communication is done thru Slack. Perfect for the loner who hates people. Projects: There are 5 ways to track your projects b/c the company refuses to invest in one Project Mgmt System, even tho they make millions of dollars. So there are a bunch of free/cheap software programs in beta that do one thing, and others that keep track of other things. It is impossible to keep track of what's due, when meetings are, etc. Also, a bunch of important updates are done thru multiple Slack channels. This is great is you have a combo of ADD and OCD, but hard to deal with if you're just trying to get work done. Vacation: You have to beg and get approval from multiple people to take time off. You are better off planning a trip and calling in sick, rather than being guilt-tripped about taking time off. Again, most young people won't realize that vacation is something you should actually have, and since there are so many young people here, they probably don't know any better. Meetings: Too many, too long, and filled with information not relevant to what everyone's doing. When you have a lot of work on your plate, it's a waste of time. Work-Life: Some people work extra long hours, but others don't. Depends on your role. Safety: If I was a girl, I wouldn't want to walk to the office from the train station. You'll be stepping over used condoms, broken glass, and human feces, while also dodging people yelling in the street. I feel a bit unsafe walking out of the office in the evenings when it's dark.

Environment is hard driving given growth goals that are very ambitious. If you like to work 40 hour weeks, don’t bother applying.

Due to the small size of the company, engineering, design and product operate still as separate teams that sometimes lack communication between them. I think that reorganizing these areas into small business units composed of engineers, designers and pm's would improve communication, performance and ownership.

Still needing to work on their culture

Communication is always something that is difficult to master with diverse communities of people, with diverse backgrounds. It's not that people don't trust each other, but it's more of, being polite, correct and not wanting to step on anyones toes. I am sure folks are receptive to feedback, but there is a fear of just displeasing someone, to the extent that important feedback about ideas or peers is sometimes lost in the cloud of being nice.