Acumen seems to have slowly been finding its sea legs over the last several years as it's become less of a start-up and more of an established firm. It is evident that senior management has turned significant attention to longstanding problems of retention, work/life balance, transparency, performance recognition, and management training, but still has a good way to go. It is possible for analysts in the research group to be either (1) completely swamped all the time, working crazy hours, or (2) completely understaffed and underutilized, barely working an 8-hour day. This is a troubling disparity that needs to be addressed by the company's leadership.
The structure of staffing in the research groups means that a new analyst is likely to be put on a specific research team (serving one client) and stay there. It can be the luck of the draw in terms of how well-functioning and well-managed your assigned team is. As Acumen works to improve managers' management skills and project management standards across the board, hopefully there will be less variability in peoples' experiences. Along similar lines, it can be very difficult to get any kind of mentorship from managers or other leadership in the firm, since managers are definitely busy and many don't commit time to regular one-on-one conversations to give feedback, never mind to discuss professional development or other concerns.
The CEO is quite involved in certain projects and can be challenging to work with. However, the challenges can be well-managed by consistently, proactively, and effectively communicating with him about projects (rather than only in close proximity to a project deadline or in the midst of a crisis). This can require a learning curve, but it's certainly not impossible to do.
There is a strong emphasis on "learning the data" that Acumen works with (Medicare and Medicaid claims) as one of the requirements for advancement, but there are very poor resources/tools for non-programmers and programmers alike to do so. Much of the knowledge sharing has historically been informal "so-and-so says x" and "this person says to do y" type of arrangement (i.e., it depends on who you know/what knowledge you have been privy to) rather than a repository of formal, well-maintained, written resources that allow for equal opportunity in learning. The latter arrangement is self-serving to those who have been at the company for some time, and strongly disadvantages newer hires, even if they have relevant work experience.
The location of the company is very poor given that the vast majority of employees are between the age of 20-35. Its distance from the city of San Francisco basically guarantees that an employee residing in a city neighborhood will have a 25-45 minute driving commute each way. This issue is a major factor for many in considering whether to stay at the company long-term.
