Although I really like the people I collaborated with and appreciate what I've learned over the years, the negatives are traumatizing and disturbing.
- Micro-management of trivial matters at an extremely toxic level. You are expected to arrive in the office daily before 10 AM, regardless of whether you worked late the night before or have meetings beforehand. Be alarmed, since there are ACTUAL, SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES for breaking this rule. Protracted and redundant daily stand-ups during the early morning are also the norm for product teams.
- Leadership does NOT care about technical sophistication or accomplishments AT ALL. People who do the actual heavy lifting are ignored, while those "can do" people who talk big and boast get the actual rewards. The entire evaluation system in the company is completely screwed up.
- The product roadmap is COMPLETE CHAOS. Duplicated work (and frequently, none of it works) is everywhere. Directions are constantly shifting, people point fingers at others all the time, and no one in leadership dares to make the call. Spontaneous, last-minute requests from leadership (often just before the end of the day) are the norm.
- Despite advertising itself as an AI company, C3 is fundamentally a sales company pushing a crappy platform that never works. Given the number of bugs and the constant instability, working on this platform is a complete waste of my life.
- There is a morbid obsession with internal demos throughout the company.
- Onboarding material for new hires is almost non-existent (or else extremely outdated or superficial).
- Compensation is absolutely PATHETIC for senior roles.
Overall, I believe C3 is a decent company ONLY for new grads (specifically in DS) who love fast-paced learning and growth. However, I STRONGLY DISCOURAGE anyone from staying here longer than a year. Staying any longer will only be detrimental to your technical expertise (yes, I am not joking), your mental health, and your career progression. You will feel like you are becoming a worse person, and that is the saddest part.
