Red Flags Abound - Anonymous employee Axosoft Employee Review

1.0
16 May 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If there is one piece of advice I can give to a potential employee, it would be to look elsewhere. Like others have said, you will work with some of the smartest, brightest people there are in AZ. Being a tech company, it's great that you will have the option of working with the latest technology, but that is not something you wouldn't find with any other tech company in town. They claim that the salaries are competitive but again, you will find going almost anywhere else as a developer or technical person that you will get paid more. From personal experience, I promise you this. They have a large office but it is located in North Scottsdale, away from the excitement of the Phoenix tech scene. This would be fine if there was a remote work option, but there isn't. They will tell you that their culture, or Axo Life, is soooo unique and we are soooo cool but don't buy into it. Again, these are things that are the norm in most places, other companies just don't feel the need to cram it down your throat constantly. You can take workout classes, but you are expected to be at the office 9 hours a day. So, if you workout, you miss a lunch, FYI. If you are someone looking to start out your career in tech, this might be an ok fit, but I'd encourage you to give other places a try. If you are an experienced developer, go anywhere else.

Cons

I should have known when I got hired here that there were red flags EVERYWHERE but I accepted with excitement thinking "But this place created the It Was Never a Dress campaign. And they offer workout classes?! Awesome!" But no. No. No. No. Any company that constantly promotes "culture culture CULTURE!" or brags about not having an HR department, you should run for the hills! I witnessed everything from bullying by the Founder, CEO and department "Directors" to the very inexperienced CEO flip-flopping on her "CEO strategies" to the accounting department (also referred to as HR, mind you) gossiping and flat out yelling at other employees. Being different is not celebrated here, no matter what the facade of the company will claim - this is NOT a safe place to share your uniqueness or ideas. There have been multiple former employees I have spoken with that claim they, no joke, experienced some sort of PTSD or developed anxiety from working here. Ultimately, if you decide to work here, you have been warned. They will love you at first, but the second you disagree with the Founder and his wife, AKA the CEO, be prepared to get pulled into a room and be convinced that you are small and they are very VERY big. Finally, and the biggest red flag of them all, the Founder appointed his wife as the CEO. She defers to him on everything and he still oversees the developer team. Their collective micromanagement is a major problem. THEY MICROMANAGE EVERYTHING. They love to remind you that the CEO is "a doctor" but that isn't true either. Due to the CEO's inexperience, she relies solely on reading books and articles, then "trying out" new methods and this had made Axosoft crumble. Her experimentation and bad judgment led to major overspending and the company went quickly from "Flat management" to having inexperienced management or "Department Leads" and then having to let many employees go as a result of overspending...the list goes on. It's really sad that it's all just such a mess and I'm glad I got out when I did. The final red flag, is that the company has failed to scale in the last 10 years. They were founded in 2002 and even though the founder likes to consider himself a smart businessman to the likes of an Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, he has failed to scale and in 2017 lost a massive amount of staff after giving the entire company an ultimatum. As a result, in 2018 they have the least amount of employees they've had since about 2013. Major red flag.

Explore other reviews about Axosoft

5.0
26 Oct 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great Product and Great Perks.

Cons

They changed ownership and lost some of the soul of the previous owners.

1
5.0
18 Feb 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A company that doesn't dictate, knows how to have fun, treats their employees well and feeds them, they do exist! Working at Axosoft takes the work out of work. They hire the best talent so that they can operate on a "flat management" platform, meaning there are no managers and everyone is hired with the expectation that they will just come in and be a rock star at their job. There is a ton of collaboration between departments and most decisions that happen are made company-wide. The top leaders always make sure to share news with the whole company. The pay is very competitive, the benefits are great - the company pays for 95% of health/dental for the employees and the plans themselves are decent plans, which is hard to find these days in terms of health coverage. A gym, fitness teacher, plant towers, massage chair and so much more are just the other perks. Outstanding company to work for and is a pleasure coming to work everyday and enjoying it.

Cons

The flat management can be a little confusing to some people, but mostly everyone knows to just do their jobs and everything else falls into place. There really are no cons. They are a very open company and work well with everyone.

4
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