Synapse Product Development Reviews

I have been working at Synapse Product Development full-time for more than a year Cons – Where do I start. There are so many cons about this company. They draw people in with their free beer, free Wed. lunch, games and the "freedom" to express yourself. They do have all of this with the exception of the freedom to express yourself. You are only free to express yourself as long as it fits into their philosophy and Synapse culture. Some of the behavior is extremely cult-like. They push their company CULTure relentlessly. If you do not exhibit appropriate Synapse attitude and culture you are at risk of losing your job or being pulled from projects. Fratboy behavior permeates the culture. This begins with your first week of work when you are stood in front of the entire company and hazed and humiliated. People spend more time trying to be funny and come up with practical jokes or drink beer than actually do some work. Employees and co-workers consistently put up road blocks which make it difficult for management to manage, and for projects to get done in a timely manner. Lack of process has contributed greatly to financial loss and internal frustration on teams. People lacking any real world or management experience have been placed in management roles which set teams, and the company up for failure. Managers (and I call them that because there are no people with leadership skills here) lack the skill to forecast or to understand basic business practices. There is no strategy for next projects and how to fully utilize staff. People were laid off and 1 month later that role is open again and they are hiring the next poor sucker. This company has a history of mismanagement of projects and funds which have lead them to multiple layoffs over the years, not only in 2013-2014 . In the past year there have been 2 significant layoffs resulting in the layoff of about half of the company. One of their favorite sayings is "People before Profit". Ha! When the hard times hit, the founders did nothing to try and save jobs like cut expenses or improve process. Their first reaction was to lay people off. Not only am I not optimistic about this company but I have lost all respect for this company. The founders are doomed to repeat their mistakes. Getting out as fast as I can.

The company isn't run like a real business, there's so much emphasis on making it "the best job you ever had" that they miss the part about growing a successful company, being competitive, and getting rid of underperforming people. In fact it's nearly impossible to be fired, even if you're awful at your job. The clients and projects they get are very run of the mill and unless you're new to the industry or otherwise inexperienced, this stuff is just not that challenging or engaging. As a consultancy, they're not very price competitive so they lose a lot of projects that might amount to something. Overall, be prepared to work with some mediocre people who will never be fired or dealt with and don't be surprised if the work you wind up with is downright boring.