Pros
Overall experience
Working at Life.io has been a positive experience. I have autonomy in role and my supervisors trust my judgment. The leaders rely on their teams to execute daily. I work with passionate, smart and talented individuals who generally respect each other. The jabs here and there are purely fun. I am able to maintain a work-life balance so I can deliver quality work, spend time on my personal and professional development and be there for my family and friends.
What else is great about working at Life.io?
Maternity/paternity leave. Unlimited PTO. Team lunches. Team outings. Company retreats. Relaxed dress code. Health care options. Equity. Dogs can come to work. The ability to have input into what my future looks like within the company.
What’s my view of leadership?
Through observation and reflection, I learned from our CEO’s leadership strategies, which has helped me to improve my own leadership skills. The leadership here is personable and self-aware. They’re fun to be with while getting down to business.
What has been my experience working with leadership?
Working with leadership is a highlight of my position. I enjoy watching and participating in meetings where they use their skills for integration, conceptualization, creativity and innovation. Their analytical, technical, financial and problem solving minds are impressive. Watching the CEO and COO think and calculate has me awestruck at times because the above average person could not do the same level of on the fly analysis.
They have personally sacrificed in ways that are unknown to the wider company. Though they may be far from perfect, I highly respect our leaders and wouldn’t want to work for anyone else at this stage of my life and career. I am grateful to work for this leadership team and I look forward to what’s ahead.
Addressing some of the things the other person raised
It’s been a few months since I first read the 1 star review. Though I don’t disagree with all of their perspective or feelings, it isn’t the whole picture, nor is it entirely fair.
Startup life is not easy. It just isn’t. There is no blue print for working to disrupt an industry. Failures are going to happen. Mistakes are going to be made. Acknowledging this reality and working through it is why one of the core values is resilience. Our success is going to be determined by what we do when things aren’t going the way we want and how we work through it.
Have there been strategy shifts? Yes. Are shifts a challenge? Yes. Could the leadership do better when we have made those shifts? They could. They have acknowledged where there have been challenges, where they have made mistakes, what their takeaways were, and how we can move forward in a better way. Do I think that we could encounter challenges in the future? Without question, we will. Part of that, I believe, is because, at this stage, without flexibility, it’s tough to succeed in a rapidly changing market.
Has the leadership taken on big client requests, and some that they probably shouldn’t have? Yes. They have. It’s unfortunate, and I have had to deal with some difficult circumstances that were a direct result of decisions that, in retrospect, everyone wishes they could change. But, we exist for our clients. And so, sometimes lessons were learned the hard way and, ok, there were a few that it sounds like took a few rounds to sort out; however, from where I sit in the organization, it seems clear that as an organization we have learned the importance of “no”, kept our focus, and we do work to better manage capacity on both the tech and business sides.
Are there misalignments? Yes. We speak the same language and still have misunderstandings. Alignment requires questions and information and knowledge sharing. There are ample opportunities to seek out the CEO, COO, CTO, SVP of Revenue and VP of User Engagement for clarity. Conflict and confusion can and do happen. In my view it is a part of the journey and problem solving in a fast paced business. Business is like life, not everyday is going to be a good day. If you aren’t ok with curveballs and a fast paced environment, then startup life isn’t right for you. It’s better to seek out companies that progress at a more comfortable and predictable pace. For those who do jump in, our CEO sets the vision. It’s our responsibility to understand and work together to sort out how our day to day and decisions align with the vision and seek information if and when there might be confusion.
Has there been cultural dysfunction? There has. Jim Collins in Good to Great uses an analogy of the business as a bus and the leader as the bus driver. The bus driver has to determine where we’re going, how we’re going to get there and who is going with us. He goes on to explain the ‘who’ is the most important part. We need to get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. This process has been taking place. Along the way, we lost a few great people but we’re still moving forward with new great people.
If an individual who is looking for a smooth, paved path, the startup life is not the right fit.
Cons
My experience
Where can things improve?
Matching 401K. Sometimes we move too quickly without adequate planning and preparation. Our new hire onboarding process has been slowly developed after being non-existent. Managers could use leadership development and check-ins to make sure they’re relaying decisions and important information or where to access information for knowledge sharing. We shouldn’t strive to resolve an outcome to everyone is satisfied.
What has been my experience working with leadership?
Sometimes, they jump in mid-stream and disrupt the process that’s been set in place or go and do their own thing without informing team members.
