Toxic - Senior Software Engineer Holo-Light Employee Review

1) The interview process My interviews went quite smoothly and 10X better coordinated than other larger companies in the space (Unity, PTC, Snap, and Niantic). It was wonderful to interface with my primary points of contact that I would be working with daily. 2) Tech specialization Holo-Light is an excellent space to get hands-on with specialized tools and methodologies that are truly shaping the workplace of the future! *I highly recommend Holo-Light to working students and recent graduates studying B2B enterprise sales and/or software engineering!

1) Onboarding I had previously worked for another company with relative product offerings/customer focus so jumping into the deep end was something I anticipated. For new professionals in the industry, don't be surprised if you are expected to "just know things" very early in order to meet aggressive/unrealistic performance targets. My advice....get into a weekly check-in cadence with a mentor and focus on the "essentials" and build up from there. I did and I couldn't recommend it enough! 2) Communication - I was the only technical support for the US market and relied on the German sister company for specialized technical Q&A. The 6-hour time difference was difficult to manage "urgent nuanced customer requests" that only the German team would know. This made communication externally and internally difficult. 3) Leadership - Like most emerging technology startups, operational issues stem from misalignment with upper management. The expectation from VCs is for their investments to constantly grow ARR year-over-year. This typically results in rapid changes ("pivots") in the strategic direction/focus and can be jarring to teams without proper change management. If you compound this with not paying your people market competitive compensation and not partnering with them to grow into new roles/responsibilities your staff will surely burn out and ultimately churn.

- Friendly and supportive coworkers make the day-to-day bearable. - Some interesting technologies in use, which can be engaging.

- Lack of clear planning and poor communication across all management levels. - A culture where everyone thinks they know best, leaving little room for constructive feedback or learning. - Failures often result in finger-pointing rather than accountability or reflection. - Little to no recognition for hard work—both financially and verbally. - Salaries are far below industry standards. - A general lack of experience and maturity across teams and leadership, which affects decision-making and growth. - It might be an okay place for early-career people as a stepping stone, but not ideal for those looking for long-term growth and development.