I don’t review many startups but every once in a while there is one like Trampoline Systems or Myka which knocks me off my chair. Glassdoor is one. There is no doubt in my mind this company will be a success. Props to Benchmark for investing in them, if I were a VC I would be fighting to stuff money into their pockets.
It is a great idea, they got to market first so they will have all the traction and the information they carry is extraordinarily valuable in a very lucrative market. Companies may feel a little bruised by some of the reviews but if they take the criticism on board they will be the better for it. Google is described as “something akin to what the Brady Bunch would be like if they lived in communist Russia.” Ouch.
Although to be fair to the big G they get pretty much stellar reviews otherwise and some of the criticisms – ‘I’m not told what to do’ and ‘flat management structure’ – say more about the individual who wrote them rather than the company. Bottom line is that some people don’t fit in some companies and instead of grinding away they would be better off just leaving. I was fired from my first job by Arthur Andersen. I hated it and I needed to go but it led me to my best ever job at Orange.
To me this is bringing the open culture of the best companies – WL Gore, Semco – to everyone whether they like it or not. That is truly disruptive and has the potential to put the wind up bad employment practices and silly management ideas. Some of the best critiques of corporate policy I have seen have been posted anonymously by junior employees online in forums and the like. Glassdoor brings all that disparate, valuable information together and they have a hit on their hands.
