Sama Reviews

Samasource embodies some of the worst aspects of corporate America. The first red flag is that employee churn is through the roof. I believe this is because of weak leadership at the company. There is an army of micromanagers with no vision and enough anxiety to induce it in even the calmest employees. Vastly more hours are spent in meetings about doing stuff than actually doing stuff. People are resources at Samasource, used and abused to meet arbitrary targets that the people expected to meet them have no say in determining. There is no humanity in the way people are treated. Those in charge have no concept that their monthly "change of priorities" actually affects people's lives. The company is run like any other VC-funded "tech" company. Anyone who doesn't drink the koolaid leaves. There is an army of middle-managers severely micromanaging skilled people. There are some people suffering through the malarkey for the paycheck and benefits, some idealists who truly believe in the cause, but the management style at Samasource kills both productivity and creativity so people seeking some agency at work don't stick around. And of course there's a nascent HR department to politely threaten anyone who dares to question the wisdom of growth for growth's sake. If you just want a pay check for a few years, this might be an ok place for you. The policies and structure are so rigid that your job is really just to keep up with them, enthusiastically participating in the corporate theatre. There's not much time left between planning, performance reviews, presentations, and interviewing to get any work done, so it's easy to give minimal effort and just hit cruise control. If you like contributing your own ideas to a business, want to advance in your career, or stay somewhere for more than a couple of years, I'd avoid Samasource. If you want a strict set of rules to mindlessly follow for money, this is one of those companies.

- The CEO is great at inspiring people externally and sharing the Samasource mission. However, she's dismal at internal communication and management. Smart senior managers get hired, aren't enabled to take ownership of their roles and make decisions, become disheartened, and leave after 12-18 months. Then the cycle repeats itself. - This unfortunate cycle means that the organization's growth is incredibly stunted: they effectively have to start over every year. This has led to cash constraints and an overall negative effect on morale and company culture. - Classic "Founder's Syndrome" is at work here. Samasource is 1) too founder-centric (vs. mission-centric); 2) poorly managed (CEO is good externally, poor internally); 3) no succession planning - unclear if management has a plan to have her transition to more of a Chairperson type role; 4) a Board with no teeth.