AD:60 Reviews

Ad60 is a mobile app and web development advertising agency operated in Brooklyn by three founders who also head up a personal finance website, MyBankTracker in the same work space. While both of the startups sound pretty cool in theory and Ad60 in particular enjoys quite a bit of success, both companies are flawed. The work hours are long, with an unspoken office culture of working from 9:30 AM to 7 PM at night, often running into 8 PM and later. Depending upon the project, certain teams will be forced to work over the weekend to make deadlines and there is no overtime pay. For hourly workers (which almost everyone starts as) there is no kind of time tracking, which means the hours you work are undocumented. I used to assume that my supervisor logged my time the minute I got in and rounded it off by the minute I was off the job, but a coworker of mine told me that he closely kept track of his pay stubs and was consistently underpaid (as in found chunks of hours missing randomly). I am now certain there were miscalculations on my wage earnings. Additionally, hourly workers aren't employees - they're classified as "contractors" so the company gets to employ and terminate workers at their own free will with no financial strings attached (which they do constantly). Teams are built and then stripped down. Management never offers notes or warnings when a firing is coming. Employees don't get a chance to improve and if their supervisor or his/her supervisor thinks it just isn't working out, they are immediately let go. The unfair labor practices are abundant and to say that the employees are disenchanted with the leadership would be an understatement. There is very little sense of understanding in the way management makes decisions. There isn't a lot of forethought behind the way projects are doled out or changes are made. Believe me, it isn't the worst place to work in the world so don't let this review scare you. No one will stand over you calling you an idiot or berating you with insults - it isn't that type of environment. It's just difficult to constantly try to work under such distracting circumstances, especially when colleagues are constantly leaving. Employee morale suffers across the board under such duress, and the leaders may think they rule with an incredibly high level of discretion, but everyone knows that new changes are a stone's throw away at any given time and rules, policies, and restructuring are a routine part of the job. Lastly, the culture. It's a rite of passage for new hires to socialize after work, at least on Fridays. This is done by migrating over to the kitchen, exchanging pleasantries and drinking wine. Put in your hours diligently - staying after a few times on Friday will do. Image is important at this company and you want to seem involved, friendly, and willing to become part of the team. It's unfortunate that this level of interaction leaves out new hires that may be shy or are introverted by nature. However, it will increase your job security to get on good terms with supervisors and colleagues so accept invitations when they are extended to you.