Great place to work - Software Engineer TileDB Employee Review

Very smart people and great place to work

None whatsoever I loved it there

The CEO has a strong vision and genuinely cares about the people at the company. There’s true flexibility with remote work, and most roles are compensated above market rate.

Speaking from the non-technical side, the company began with an inspiring culture—one that encouraged merit-based growth and welcomed new ideas. Sadly, things started to shift after the departure of the first VP of Sales. The sales and marketing orgs lost direction, and new leadership came in with little respect for the foundation that had been built, speaking as if the culture is supposed to be like a cult or fraternity where you "earn your stripes" and "pay your dues". (Actual things they've said) Over time, the culture became toxic. There was no structure or desire to implement processes—just a lot of smoke and mirrors. Advancement became less about performance or ideas and more about who could align themselves with the latest VP. In late 2024, several nepotistic hires were brought in to lead teams despite lacking emotional maturity and leadership experience, with one in particular having no GTM experience and being moved to team lead a few months in. One particularly troubling experience was when a VP of Sales made a racist comment about an employee. Despite raising this issue through the proper HR channels, the employee in question was never informed, and I personally experienced professional repercussions for speaking up. Rather than taking accountability or addressing the harm, HR and leadership opted to protect those at the top, sending a clear message about whose voices matter. As the longest-tenured sales and marketing team member, I was let go without a performance review, clear feedback, or explanation—by a “leader” who had been at the company for less than six months and managed the team like a 1995 high school football coach. It was a deeply unprofessional and demoralizing experience that reflected a larger pattern of arbitrary decision-making and a culture of fear rather than accountability. Unfortunately, the C-suite—while technically brilliant—lacks business acumen and experience in scaling a company. This disconnect, combined with a growing “frat bro” leadership style in sales, has eroded what made the company special. It’s hard to see how a business will survive without a major shift in leadership philosophy.