Symless Reviews

Pros

- Was a small company with a jovial atmosphere and a passionate team (8 people as of May 2018). - The company always managed to hire talented people. Everyone there could have been somewhere else earning more, but stayed because they felt like a part of something worthwhile. - Nick (CEO) was always generous and kind to his employees. - Nick (CEO) was once passionate and enthusiastic about what was possible, and it was infectious. - Company was highly profitable. - Product development was fun, challenging and offered variety.

Cons

- Nick (CEO) is just plain fiscally irresponsible, wasting time and money on self-congratulatory crap, like a "museum" for past versions of the product. His private and personal expenditure is disproportionate, which I personally believe lead directly to the redundancy of *all* of the remaining staff after I left (5 in total). Frankly, a highly profitable company was needlessly run in to the ground due to his recklessness. - Nick (CEO), despite hiring good people, never truly took on board their views or advice, individual or collective, frequently becoming tyrannical. - Nick (CEO) lacked the ability to make coherent medium to long-term product ownership decisions, leaving engineers and managers feeling "aimless". It was common to ask questions of managers only to realise they had the same questions themselves. - Nick (CEO) effectively abandoned the company for 6 months, spending *very* little time in the office during an important product development phase. Even his management team couldn't meaningfully reach him. On the day he laid us all off, I was actually pleased to see him walk in to the office. - Despite claiming to value time above all else, Nick (CEO), when present, was often found pedantically, one could argue obsessively, fussing over operational minutia. - Nick (CEO), despite having only a few years of software engineering experience, and only having run a startup consisting of a handful of people, for a handful of years, built around a modest, niche, open-source product (which he inherited), believes he can be the next Steve Jobs. At first this can be seen as pure zeal, but there is a point at which is becomes blinding.

Pros

The team set clear and attainable goals. The work environment was always positive.

Cons

Too lenient with the unavoidable slackers. This has since been rectified.

Pros

The CEO Nick is determined to get it right and recruit the best people to move the company and software forward to the next level. He is taking advice from experienced people both inside and outside the industry to help him create and execute a great strategy, recruit and retain the best people and develop and enhance synergy so it can be proudly placed in the market with excellent results. Nick is listening carefully to all the advice he is receiving but is making his own decisions after careful and considered thought for all stakeholders which has been great to witness. He wants to get it right. His communication style has been consultative, open and positive at all times. It has been a pleasure working with Nick over the past few months.

Cons

None so far that should put someone off considering Symless as a future employer of choice

Pros

A very fun and engaging work environment with great colleagues and a very well recognized and valued product offering. This is a company with exciting long term growth opportunities for the right candidates.

Cons

Working remotely I don't get to spend time in HQ with the development team.

Pros

I have been working in the company for several months, and I can say the following: 1. The company is really very cool. 2. Interesting tasks from clients and their solutions in a team. 3. Nick is a great manager. Able to listen, analyze, propose and make decisions. 4. You can learn a lot, because the product affects many operating systems. 5. Great team. All together we cope perfectly with the tasks and volumes of work. 6. A large amount of material for the study of Synergy. 7. It is very comfortable and pleasant to work as a whole.

Cons

I have no negative thoughts or opinions about the company or work in the company. Everything is very, very cool.

Pros

The work is self-rewarding. I would be doing this even if I wasn't being paid for it (probably not as much, heh). It's an important mission and I'm very happy to be part of a team who also feels the work is important. Policies are rather open, people are generally allowed to handle their departments how they see fit, as long as the work is getting done and customers aren't complaining.

Cons

Resources are somewhat limited. I like what we accomplish with what we have, and I'm not sure if there is any possibility of getting more out of it. I think we're all doing the best we can with what's available. I just wish there were more available.