Bud Reviews

4.1

72% would recommend to a friend

(53 total reviews)

Edward Maslaveckas

77% approve of CEO

69% positive business outlook

Bud has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 53 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Bud employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

53 reviews
2.0
10 Dec 2018

Look behind the facade!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

We have a nice office, there is indeed beer in the fridge as others say, and some really smart people indeed who could achieve a lot. They also pay well, tought there are big differences even within teams.

Cons

Unfortunately much of positive the stuff others mention here is just a vision the management communicates, but not the truth. I wonder who wrote these jolly good 5 star reviews... In reality the CEO is a lousy sales guy who doesn't understand much about what he sells, but says whatever it takes. The CTO is a junior or at most mid level backend developer with no experience in building sytems of this complexity. It would be fine, if they'd actually rely on the team and foster cooperation as they say. It doesn't feel like that. It's more like they read good books and articles on management and echo everything they feel is "good", but stay away from actually implementing it as it's risky. I feel we're working towards a demo and not an actual product and this creates a false sense of progress. We cheer for minuscule achievements just to save our face and frankly this stinks. I really hope we catch up with all the promises we make.

avatar
Bud Response
7y
Thank you for the honest and direct feedback on how you’re finding working at Bud. From what I’ve digested there is an overarching sentiment that we seem to know what we need to do, and even say the things we need to do, but don’t always take steps to actually do it. From what you’ve said I’m hearing that we need to take bolder steps in putting into practice what we preach. We have started to do this and will continue to as we grow. Historically, we haven’t had channels for feedback within the businesses - we have now made steps to solve this issue and will be launching Peakon this week to allow for more regular feedback loops to surface issues and solve them much faster. The concerns you have about leadership and vision seem quite meaty and I would encourage you to use this platform to share specific problems and any suggestions. Alternatively, if you feel comfortable you can always email me directly. You’ve raised some points on pay and recognition which I want to respond to. Pay - We know that as part of scaling and remaining competitive we need to get this right and put in some frameworks to keep things consistent and fair. The people team have been working on this for the last few months and we hope to have more information to share in the coming weeks. Recognition - We don’t want anyone to feel undervalued or under-appreciated and we know that recognition will vary from person to person. It’s something we are building on and we are sure the insights we get from Peakon will help to shape this. If there are ways that you think we can solve this sooner I would encourage you to share your thoughts with us. We’re a rapidly growing company, and we won’t always get it right and knowing where we are getting it wrong is just as important as what is working really well. Hannah
2.0
3 Dec 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Talent is good by the standards of a London startup, the work is very self-led and there is a lot of operating freedom.

Cons

Still no clear overall direction or business plan that I could see. One point re:options. Granted face value is EXTREMELY low by startup standards, make sure to build this into your total compensation calc. Also, unless something has changed, management will claw back all your vested options if you leave <3 years by classifying you as a bad leaver. Whilst they are legally allowed to do this, it is extremely underhanded and makes a mockery of the actual vesting schedule. Make sure you calculate your compensation very carefully.

2.0
2 Oct 2019

Great people, not so great management

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Bud has been successful in recruiting amazing talent. Bud are hard working people who deserve all the glory for creating a workplace with a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. There has been a good work-life balance and long working hours haven’t been the norm for most of the employees. They organise social events and they want people to also have fun. It's a workplace where you can make good friends! I still believe that the founders have wanted to build a great place to work for themselves and everyone working at the company.

Cons

There is lots of hype around the product. Is it a revolutionary open banking marketplace or yet another MoneySupermarket combined with uSwitch? To show what they are made of Bud would need to first release something! Building something like this is extremely complex and nobody in there has ever done anything like that. The managers are excellent sales people but they haven't been able to lead the team towards success. Lots of time has been wasted in bureaucracy. Just get it done! Don't become a corporation! Fintech is regulated but they have taken it to the extreme level and in some cases they are operating like a big high street bank. I also think insane growth goals and excess hiring combined with the lack of clear direction lead to the recent layoffs. They hired lots of people they didn't really need in the first place.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 53 Reviews

Glassdoor has 56 Bud reviews submitted anonymously by Bud employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Bud is right for you.