Smart Wires Reviews

3.7

65% would recommend to a friend

(81 total reviews)
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Peter Wells

28% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Smart Wires has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 81 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Smart Wires employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Energy, mining, utilities industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

81 reviews
1.0
8 Nov 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They managed to fool a lot of investors.

Cons

It is a scam of epic proportions. Forget Enron, forget Theranos. This is the best scam you will find in a long time. Their products dont work, dont have any hope of working. The only ones that work are their Gen 1 products that was developed by a university. All the subsequent products are non-working boxes. They have been great in getting money from investors and developing nonfunctioning boxes. There are also rumors of potential underhand dealings to get contracts from customers. They claim developing modular products. But their products fail moment they are stacked together. Products from other companies work for years and years. These products fail within few days.

5.0
9 Dec 2015

Unique Startup with an Amazing Team

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Smart Wires Inc. is a San Francisco-based startup making inroads into the electric utility and green energy markets. Smart Wires is uniquely positioned in this market and has tremendous potential, with its forward-looking management team and patient investor group doing everything they can to allow the company to revolutionize the industry. Regarding the day-to-day life: the culture instilled by management at the R&D facility that I work out of is amazing. Team-work, cooperation, and camaraderie are everywhere. The normal heated technical and scheduling debates that accompany a research setting are always cordial in nature at Smart Wires, and rarely, if ever, result in long-term hurt feelings or lingering animosity.This is a great group to work with and learn from - everyone is helpful and days are typically fun and productive. And as the company grows, the management team has made it clear that it is a top priority of theirs to keep this culture intact. Technically speaking, Smart Wires is very open to innovation and new ideas. In terms of hardware development, project management techniques, and company culture, Smart Wires has demonstrated an ability to move fast and evolve quickly in an attempt to disrupt our market. All core ideas and ideologies are up for debate and new ideas and perspectives are always welcome; and while they don't always pan out, a few have led to a big breakthroughs for us over the past year. Smart Wires is a great opportunity if your end goals are to make a lasting impact on the world's climate/energy crisis and to work in a place where you can push your boundaries, learn, and grow.

Cons

Like a lot of startups - deadlines are frequent and schedules are aggressive. This leads to hours becoming long when a difficult milestone approaches. And because management is purposefully selective and thorough during the hiring process, help has typically always arrived a bit later than when it was needed. Note though that this was as of Q3 2015. Additionally, the company is growing rapidly, which opens the door to the month-to-month work experience changing dramatically. Over the two years I've been here, R&D has more than quadrupled in size. Work structures and facilities have been slow in catching up with the expanded population leading to some disorganization, redundant efforts, etc. I am hoping the company's organizational structure becomes better at adapting to its rapidly changing size going forward.

1.0
24 Mar 2018

Dysfunctional

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Pay was decent and nice location

Cons

Leadership is the worst

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Smart Wires Response
7y
Thanks so much for your honest review of Smart Wires. It's unfortunate to hear that you had a unfavorable experience while working here. Our leadership team is very open to feedback on how to improve so I hope you had the opportunity to share your thoughts before your departure. We hope you have found a career path that works best for you.
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Glassdoor has 92 Smart Wires reviews submitted anonymously by Smart Wires employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Smart Wires is right for you.