Mechicanl - Engineer Geli Employee Review

Very flexible PTO, very hands off management style, great culture due to burner founders. Interesting and fulfilling work

Company is composed purely of individual contributors and then one exec who is not involved in execution, he’s just concerned with budget politics. This means nobody feels empowered to lead, and nobody knows who is responsible for what. Leadership has no experience in either data science or energy. Post acquisition there are still a lot of kinks to work out in HR.

A close-up lens into the renewable energy industry, though immediate real-world impact is limited. Smart people. Flexible work hours and PTO, including leave for new parents; good health and dental.

Throughout my time at Geli, the company model (literally business 101: "We are selling X to Y for the purpose of Z") was never even vaguely defined. No mission statement or roadmap was created until maybe a year ago. As a result, the company never really had one particular focus. Rather than building an excellent part(s) of a larger product platform, the end result is just a mediocre software platform with no real immediate advantage over any of its competitors. You can't build a house on top of shifting sands. Many repercussions follow from the above: - Poor resource allocation of employees. What was once a key milestone last week, is shelved indefinitely. No warning or even an adequate explanation. - Difficulty in raising money, since it's hard for customers to buy into an ill-defined product. - Partnerships lost or compromised, based on poor focus and execution. - Few paths for employee growth, since interests are constantly shelved for the hot-button topics of the moment. Raises and title upgrades are few and far between due to financial constraints. Worst of all: rogue "skunkworks" operations by the executive team in a desperate attempt to control the direction of the company, leaving employees and everyone else involved in the dark.