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      Persefoni

      Engaged employer

      Persefoni Reviews

      3.9

      63% would recommend to a friend

      (121 total reviews)
      avatar

      Kentaro Kawamori

      67% approve of CEO

      56% positive business outlook

      Persefoni has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 121 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Persefoni employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      121 reviews
      2.0
      25 Mar 2024

      Don't get comfortable

      Software engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Skilled engineers to work with, until you or they get laid off.

      Cons

      QA understaffed. Repeated layoffs across the organization. Accidentally fired one of their best technical directors based on inaccurate information. Claims to be engineering focused company, actually focused on brand identity and social media engagement. Ships MVP features and congratulate themselves on LinkedIn. Lay off the engineers that built the MVP product, with no thought towards technical debt, maintenance. Execs heavily emphasize buy-in to brand identity and personal investment in the company. They reward this by laying your whole team off after the MVP feature is delivered. Engineers are effectively contractors, without their knowledge. You were hired to deliver a specific feature, after that feature is done, you will be laid off. Company will claim layoffs are due to "macroeconomic" factors, but this is contradicted by their actions, with multiple rounds of layoffs before the looming recession, and making layoffs alongside announcements of new rounds of funding.

      avatar
      Persefoni Response
      2y
      Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. We're sorry to understand that you were dissatisfied with your experience with us. This feedback, while reflective of some understandable frustration with circumstances such as layoffs, is also lacking quite a bit of important context. Parts of it are wholly inaccurate. We'd be remiss not to note here how grateful we are for the contributions of our Engineering team, past and present. We have always considered our Engineers to be important and valued members of our team - Despite having to evolve and make some tough decisions along the way, this fact remains unwavering. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.
      1.0
      6 Feb 2024

      Wouldn't recommend

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Early on, they did in fact hire at a very high talent bar and there were many talented and highly competent ICs

      Cons

      Most of the ICs noted above are no longer at the company due to getting laid off or leaving the company. The company’s initial goals that were presented were valid and the culture was strong. Over the time I was there however, things rapidly deteriorated. Leadership wasn’t able to keep a track on what direction they want to go in from a business standpoint nor were they able to keep their word. In early 2023, after promising no layoffs adamantly for months they had abrupt layoffs that cut around 13% of their staff (the majority of which were women and PoC). The remaining staff were told not to speak about the layoffs publicly and had mixed messages on why, from financial to changing business goals. I’ll also note, this was a few short months after a large group of the company went on a week+ long non-business essential trip to Japan. Then, only a few months after the first round of layoffs there was another round of layoffs, the same day they announced their Series C1 funding. Now there’s been a third round and things are only getting worse in terms of morale and company culture. Product requirements are created at the whim of leadership (not user research or data) and there’s no clear competitive path forward for the product. I doubt they’re hiring any time soon so not sure if these reviews will provide context to anyone but if you’re considering working here I’d strongly recommend otherwise.

      avatar
      Persefoni Response
      2y
      We appreciate you taking time to share your feedback about your experience at Persefoni. Regarding layoffs, unfortunately, we aren't exempt from the broader impacts of the current macroeconomic environment, and we've worked to navigate this environment with as minimal impact as we can to our team. Additionally, we have always encouraged remaining team members to offer their support to those impacted in whatever way they can. In regards to your feedback regarding culture and product requirements, while it is missing some important context and we disagree with your overall assessment, we recognize there are always ways we can improve. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
      2.0
      5 Mar 2024

      Over Hired and Surpassed By The Market

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      -Intriguing industry -Competitive pay -Talent density (though many are leaving)

      Cons

      -Over raised and over hired leading to 3 RIFs in 12 month period. Though all technology companies dealt with macroeconomic headwinds in 2023, the leaders did not reduce headcount as significantly or frequently -Leadership acknowledged in writing an overworked staff and low internal morale -Leadership refused to take climate expert feedback into consideration which led to bunches of product and climate experts voluntarily leaving. In some instances, employees left without a confirmed next opportunity just to leave Persefoni -Curtis Ravenel, Co-Founder of TCFD, left Persefoni's Advisory Board to join Watershed's Advisory Board

      avatar
      Persefoni Response
      2y
      Thank you for providing this feedback on your experience. We are sorry to read that you were disappointed in your experience with us. Building an unprecedented product and company in an emerging market, amidst a volatile macroeconomic environment has required us to continually assess and adapt. To your point, we have transparently acknowledged both the ups and downs of this journey along the way to ensure our team is informed and can make decisions that are best for them accordingly. Feedback is welcomed and encouraged, however all feedback cannot always be acted on - This is why we've, on many occasions, highlighted the importance of speaking up and also the understanding that we aren't always going to be able to come to consensus on final decisions. It's not uncommon for Persefonites to provide open and constructive feedback directly to our leadership team, including our CEO. Regarding people leaving the company - While we experience natural attrition that's historically lower than tech averages, we do continue to retain an amazing and talented group of people (if you ask Persefonites what their favorite part of working here is, they consistently cite the quality of their teammates as a key factor.) I'd encourage anyone reading our negative reviews to also read the positive ones. There is an interesting pattern within our Glassdoor reviews of negative reviews receiving a fairly consistent number of 'helpful' votes, while the positive reviews receive none. While we can't control this, we are disappointed to see that energy continues to seemingly be channeled in this specific manner. Thanks again for your feedback and we wish you the best in your journey ahead.
      Viewing 1 - 3 of 121 Reviews
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      ReviewsPersefoni reviews

      Glassdoor has 126 Persefoni reviews submitted anonymously by Persefoni employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Persefoni is right for you.