Poor, Micro and Unprofessional Management - Technical Lead MangoApps Employee Review

I started working here at the end of the summer. Fast-paced place to work with a lot of tech stacks and technologies to learn. This makes the learning curve high, but the reward also high. I enjoy commuting into the office twice a week, and they are very flexible with arrival times (I'm able to avoid traffic by taking my early morning meetings at home, then drive into the office sometime before 11am). Overall benefits are great, zero cost from my end for healthcare (they cover 100% of my premium), and they contribute 3% to my 401k regardless if I contribute any amount.

The posted job salaries are slightly below market from my experience, but as long as you are confident in your skills and what you bring to the table, you can negotiate your salary during the interview process.

The colleagues you'll get to work with - most of them are wonderful humans. While there have been some questionable hires in the last year, generally speaking, most of the employees are capable, intelligent, experienced, and kind. The product itself is also brilliant. Everyone needs MangoApps. The success of the company is proof of the product being awesome because it sells itself in spite of poor business ops.

Be cautious of the positive reviews here. The owners of the company and HR literally asked us to write good reviews last year because they were having difficulty hiring. The statements and expectations set by leadership in the interview process are misleading and many have not come to fruition. For example, they have been talking bonuses for over two years and continue to move the goal post and have yet to pay any bonuses out. This is after already paying below market rate for most roles with subpar benefits. You will be told that ownership (CEO/COO) value feedback, are good at giving feedback (positive and constructive), there are bonuses, and the culture is supportive - these are inaccurate. The feedback is minimal (they say they follow a "no news is good news" standard) and when you do get feedback it is usually punitive in nature vs. constructive and helpful. Positive feedback is non-existent. The CEO and COO (a husband and wife team) micromanage every single aspect of every single department in the US team. They do not trust those they hire in either “management” or employee roles. The “leadership” style is one of leading by fear vs. support. Managers are merely puppets of the CEO/COO. The CEO has publicly criticized people, in writing in our comms platform, deleted responses to his feedback, and then continued criticism in private threads. The COO does not criticize in writing publicly, but will call you down in chat or in person if they’re displeased with you as a person. Negative feedback is commonly opinion/personality-based (vs. action/behavior/job duty feedback). There is no solid documentation of processes, responsibilities, or definition of roles - because they change on a weekly basis at the whims of leadership. The air of fear [of displeasing the CEO/COO] is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Your work is judged primarily by visibility and its alignment with leadership's personal preferences.