How are senior leaders perceived at Inkitt?

One thing about Inkitt is they know how to hire a remarkable team. I can't think of one person in my time at the company that could be considered uneducated or unmotivated. Everyone you meet on every team is driven and well-versed in multiple skillsets and facets of the business. The team Inkitt has (or had) at my time at the company was the best. The people alone make the company, it's a shame Inkitt doesn't seem to prioritize them.

Middle management is ruining this company. The sink or swim dynamic that drives most individuals within the team causes creative strangulation and burnout (not to mention they're trying to remove all creative elements of the company and replace it with AI). The lack of actual people management from the individuals expected to manage teams is toxic and horrific for company culture. Minimal opportunities for bonuses and next to know room for career growth. Managers often take credit for their teams successes and rarely acknowledge wins or offer support and congratulations to those deserving. Bonuses are offered to recruiters who can keep employees at the company for more than a year. Average tenure at the company is maybe 5 months? And that may be pushing it. The culture is toxic, the CEO requires a team of yes-men that can't drive the company forward. Loyalty is expected but never returned. People are undervalued and under-prioritized, and if you're not killing yourself to beat out your counterparts at the company, you're fired. At the end of it all, I felt guilty to anyone I hired in my time at Inkitt, because nearly everyone felt trapped or was already fired by the time I departed. Personally, I think a lot of the good reviews published under current employees are being offered some type of pay out to improve their ratings. If you are considering working at Inkitt, please reach out to past employees to get a true feel for the company culture and expectations.

I left because working here wasn't any good. You're basically just signing up to suffer on a daily basis.

Inkitt has absolutely no respect for employees' personal time The leadership couldn't care less about our well-being, and only cares about having their demands met. They expect you to have your work as your number one priority at all times, regardless of your circumstances. It doesn't matter if you have an emergency or whatnot; they will still expect you to prioritize them above all else.

If you're looking for a place to step outside of your comfort zone, wear multiple hats, and do things that you've never done, then this is the place for you. The pipeline of going from self published author, to book deal, to having your story turned into a live action short movie/vertical drama is really unique and not being done anywhere else. Steady revenue growth year over year generally. Most of the people there are fantastic to be around both personally and professionally.

While the pipeline and funnel for Inkitt is unique, the company will never reach its full potential with the existing leadership in place. Micromanagement by the CEO is really really difficult to deal with - there's no trust between employees and him. It feels like you're constantly trying to show him you can be trusted and he thinks you're working to tear down his company. No real long term vision other than "generate more revenue" - The "Disney of the 21st Century" is really just a catchy tag line to sell investors more than anything else. Romance novels are all the company has going for it and it hasn't provided a game plan on how to branch out beyond that. Toxic individuals are praised rather than pushed out - As long as you're getting things done, nothing matters. You can be as toxic and mean as you need to be as long as you're hitting revenue/growth goals then you're good. If you try to stand up to people being toxic, you're quickly removed from the company. Leadership takes credit for your work - On more than one occasion I've seen both leadership and middle managers take credit for the things their team has done while giving their team 0 visibility. Senior leadership doesn't seek to understand anything other than their own perception - There are numerous stories from Inkitt employees where they tell senior leadership something and senior leadership doesn't listen and turns the story inside out or completely misrepresents it and then you're held responsible for their bad take. You have to stay loyal, but they don't - There are tons of stories of Inkitt expecting you to give them the world with the CEO saying that if you're not working 60+ hours a week then you're not meeting expectations (it's not that serious, really, it's werewolf erotica) but the second you ask for better conditions or accommodations, you're thrown out the door. Don't enjoy AI Content? Don't work here - The company has toyed with the idea of creating AI-generated content from AI-generated authors to provide users with the personalized content they really want, but in reality, it's a way to not pay real authors and generate more money for the company. Unlimited PTO means limited pay - If you take too much PTO then you won't get a raise. They never communicate what "too much" is, so you're just left to figure that out on your own. I've seen this happen through 2 or 3 raise cycles now where people don't get raises because they used the company's unlimited time off policy. It's unlimited, but there are consequences if you use it Promotions only happen if you drink the Kool Aid - People are denied promotions if they don't live in SF (I've seen this happen 3 times now). You're told that they don't like to do "off-cycle" promotions but then promote people off-cycle. They think you're dumb and won't question/call them out on it.

There are a lot of great minds working on the engineering teams.

Management and the CEO do not care about its employees and would rather you work 100% of your day than spend it not going insane.

I struggle to find anything worth calling a real advantage. Nothing was completely terrible, but nothing felt good enough to stand out.

The CEO and the rest of the leadership ruled through fear. People stayed silent because speaking up meant risking insults, Shouting, or losing their jobs on the spot. Any form of criticism, even the mildest suggestion, was treated like an attack. Feedback was twisted into disrespect, and anything less than praise set off another wave of hostility. The refusal to face honest input made the whole place feel suffocating.

NO PROS to working here!! You will risk your mental and eventually physical health.

Listen to the reviews - listen to everything you hear about this place..it is hell on earth working for the CEO and any of his minions aka upper management. You will be severely undervalued and taken advantage of. You will be underpaid and lied to. The CEO is so arrogant and delusional he thinks that he has a good idea that is going to actually take off but you have to work here to see it/believe it. Everyone thinks he is a joke and rightfully so but noone says anything because they have to keep their jobs and pay. Trust me Ali - you are the worst there is.. protect yourselves, DO NOT WORK HERE!!

You can build friendships. Employees bond together against one enemy - leadership team.

There is no logic behind the decisions made by leadership team. The only reasoning: because CEO wants it this way. The rest of the leadership team is just doing what he says. As soon as you say “no” to him or ask “uncomfortable” question you are fired, no matter how good your performance was. You need approval for “every sneeze”, you are getting controlled on every corner, cameras in the office are recording every move made and word said. Employee rights do not exist here, consider yourself a slave of Inkitt.

Remote work (for the most part) Creative freedom

Terrible leadership and executive management Managers are mostly condescending/COMPLETELY lack empathy CEO is very frightening

You'll form deep, fast friendships—mostly through shared trauma—with your talented colleagues who, like you, have had their potential stifled by management. At least telling people you work for a werewolf porn app makes for a great conversation starter.

Every negative review you've seen about this place is spot on. If you’re not careful, it will crush your confidence and wreck your mental health. Ali, the CEO, has turned toxicity into an art form—he thrives on pitting employees against each other while pretending he’s not responsible for any of the chaos. His way of speaking to people is beyond disrespectful, and his leadership style is purely fear-based. Anyone paying attention knows that the man who demands CEO approval for a $5 office supply order has absolute control over everything that happens at Inkitt. They talk a big game about "moving fast," but in reality, management just plays a never-ending game of hot potato, passing decisions around to avoid making a call that might upset Ali. If he likes you, you’ll have a lot of freedom—at least until he changes his mind. But earning that favor means sacrificing your personal life entirely. He genuinely seems to believe that paying a market-rate salary entitles him to every hour of your day. If they suspect you’re job hunting, expect direct confrontations. The SF office lives in fear of being fired in this job market, while EU employees have slightly more security thanks to labor laws. If you decide to work here, brace yourself for nonsensical OKRs, being asked to take on tasks way beyond your job description, and being gaslit into believing that extreme micromanagement is just part of their "transparent culture." Spoiler: there’s nothing transparent about this place. In 2024 alone, nearly half the company turned over. Long-term employees don’t even bother learning new hires' names anymore—most of them will be gone within a month or two.

If you're looking for a place to step outside of your comfort zone, wear multiple hats, and do things that you've never done, then this is the place for you. The pipeline of going from self published author, to book deal, to having your story turned into a live action short movie/vertical drama is really unique and not being done anywhere else. Steady revenue growth year over year generally. Most of the people there are fantastic to be around both personally and professionally.

While the pipeline and funnel for Inkitt is unique, the company will never reach its full potential with the existing leadership in place. Micromanagement by the CEO is really really difficult to deal with - there's no trust between employees and him. It feels like you're constantly trying to show him you can be trusted and he thinks you're working to tear down his company. No real long term vision other than "generate more revenue" - The "Disney of the 21st Century" is really just a catchy tag line to sell investors more than anything else. Romance novels are all the company has going for it and it hasn't provided a game plan on how to branch out beyond that. Toxic individuals are praised rather than pushed out - As long as you're getting things done, nothing matters. You can be as toxic and mean as you need to be as long as you're hitting revenue/growth goals then you're good. If you try to stand up to people being toxic, you're quickly removed from the company. Leadership takes credit for your work - On more than one occasion I've seen both leadership and middle managers take credit for the things their team has done while giving their team 0 visibility. Senior leadership doesn't seek to understand anything other than their own perception - There are numerous stories from Inkitt employees where they tell senior leadership something and senior leadership doesn't listen and turns the story inside out or completely misrepresents it and then you're held responsible for their bad take. You have to stay loyal, but they don't - There are tons of stories of Inkitt expecting you to give them the world with the CEO saying that if you're not working 60+ hours a week then you're not meeting expectations (it's not that serious, really, it's werewolf erotica) but the second you ask for better conditions or accommodations, you're thrown out the door. Don't enjoy AI Content? Don't work here - The company has toyed with the idea of creating AI-generated content from AI-generated authors to provide users with the personalized content they really want, but in reality, it's a way to not pay real authors and generate more money for the company. Unlimited PTO means limited pay - If you take too much PTO then you won't get a raise. They never communicate what "too much" is, so you're just left to figure that out on your own. I've seen this happen through 2 or 3 raise cycles now where people don't get raises because they used the company's unlimited time off policy. It's unlimited, but there are consequences if you use it Promotions only happen if you drink the Kool Aid - People are denied promotions if they don't live in SF (I've seen this happen 3 times now). You're told that they don't like to do "off-cycle" promotions but then promote people off-cycle. They think you're dumb and won't question/call them out on it.