- Lawsuit-riddled company due to shady business practices, and horrible decision making at the CEO and Founder level. Lawsuits from customers, as well as outcasted co-founder (on the ground of retaliation from other co-founders), in addition to a very public Supreme Court case.
- Extreme and blatant nepotism. There is a minefield of personal relationships to the Founders that you have to uncover when you work here. Those that are personal friends, relatives through blood and marriage, and early employees make up what people refer to as the “inner circle”. The “inner circle” bullies their way through the company, treating people in poor ways, some of them even proudly refusing to do work, but the Founders will turn a blind eye and even tell those trying to manage them that these employees are allowed to act that way because they have been here longer and they want to repay them for staying with them this long. And if any one person in the inner circle decides they don’t like you (usually because you shine a lot on their bullying), then the rest of the circle decides that you are on the black list and treat you as such.
- Retaliation form the Founders that you can never recover from if you “whistleblow” on any of the unprofessional behaviors of the inner circle, or if you dare disagree with any of the Founders’ ideas on development, product, design, culture, you name it. Think you can get back in their good graces by working hard, putting in long hours, doing well at your job, and having a good attitude? Nope. You’ve sealed your fate for as long as you are at Spokeo.
- Because the Founders don’t trust anyone to do their jobs, there is a dog-eat-dog culture created from the top down, where people are just looking for a pat on the back and will sacrifice their peers or subordinates to get those accolades. This creates an incredibly toxic environment where people are constantly worried if they are going to get fired, where they hear gossip that the Founders are telling others about them, and where everyone sees each other as competition instead of community.
- Micromanagement due to Founder arrogance. Super talented people work at Spokeo yet none of them are able to fully do their jobs since the Founders think they know better than any subject matter expert, and therefore micromanage the employees. And if you go against them, prepare for the retaliation (see point above). So even the most talented people become disengaged and disenchanted to survive in their role. They give up on their own ideas, follow the direction of the Founders out of fear of retaliation, and then suffer through the blame that lands on them when the results of the Founders’ ideas are not successful. No one will speak up out of fear of retaliation.
- False advertising of the job. It’s easy to get mesmerized by the promise of great culture, “flexible” hours, and a twice a year review cycle that could result in continual raises. The culture team tries to create a great culture, but they are only able to change the secondary culture. The job and core company culture is what needs fixing. No amount of parties or perks will make that okay. The flexible work hours mean that you are told you can come in at different times as long as you work your 8 hours. What they don’t tell you is that you are offered flexible work hours, but if you take advantage of them you are screwed. Come in earlier so that you can leave earlier? They will talk about how you leave too early. And ONLY worked 8 hours. But if you come in super late and leave super late, and barely work 8 hours? Rockstar. Go for a lunch that is a little too long, or leave during the day for a doctor’s appointment, or dare ask to work from home? Get ready to be talked about. And the twice a year reviews with promises of raises, and assurances that your low starting pay will be fixed during those times? Not going to happen unless you find a way to get yourself into the inner circle.
