Feb 4, 2021
Applied Minds reviews
3.3
51% would recommend to a friend
Bran Ferren & Danny Hillis
51% approve of CEO
40% positive business outlook
2.0
Aug 14, 2018
Almost a dream job, but has many institutional problems
Former employee, more than 3 years
Burbank, CA
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
If you're the right person to fit into this hyper multi-disciplinary, highly creative, and often chaotic work environment, you will LOVE this job. Your enjoyment of working at Applied Minds scales with your competence at producing near-miracles in a variety of disciplines. Casual dress code. Lots of fun tools and equipment. Awesome open-plan office environment -- lots of plants, natural lighting, big open space, etc. Rapid-fire projects in a variety of fields. Great place to learn if you can boot-strap yourself. Massive potential for project ownership.
Cons
When deadlines are approaching, work hours can be long (60 to 80 hours/week) although most of the time it's ~40 hours/week. Hard work is not rewarded. Promised bonuses are a lie (don't believe the recruiter), and there's no comp time off after 80 hour work weeks and working nights and weekends. Spineless managers won't stand up for their team, and are never around when they're needed. No professional development. No formal mentor-ship program, and senior employees are overworked to the point that they hardly have time to talk to junior employees. Teams don't communicate well, and managers don't care. No improvement culture. After a few project cycles you'll start to learn that the company has been making the same mistakes over and over for many years. Many projects have no real world impact --- for example, projects may be to help a struggling company catch up with their competitors, or to produce a demo which shows off a technology that will never have an impact as a technology or service. The good old boy's club is alive and well...
5.0
Jul 8, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
You will get the chance to work on cutting edge projects with the potential to have an impact. There are lots of really smart people here, who are generally happy to share their knowledge and work together. It somewhat depends on exactly what team you are on, and how closely Bran is involved in your projects, but generally people here have a great deal of autonomy in terms of how they get their work done. No micromanaging, and no bureaucracy. Need to have good time management skills. Team size is small, and expectations for what you need to accomplish are high. Lots of opportunities for direct interactions with clients, even for junior employees. There is an incredibly diverse set of projects here, tons of things to learn, and you will never be bored.
Cons
Need to be self-directed, management is pretty uneven (some are not even in the same city). Some of the processes here are quirky and inefficient. Pay is decent, but other benefits are sub-par.
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