Not great mid-level managers, but IPO golden handcuffs and company performance keep you going - Analyst BetterUp Employee Review

2.0
Feb 18, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Pay is about top 33% of industry standards. Potential for the company to pay top 10% overtime. - CEO and COO are visionaries and listening them speak will motivate you. - DE&I friendly. We practice what we preach here when it comes to inclusion.

Cons

- "Nepotism". Many of upper management are in positions they don't belong in because they are siblings with the founders or close friends with the founders leading to many employees not feeling comfortable enough to call out their biases. - Sometimes the growth opportunities for the company can be scary for those that haven’t seen a company grow as fast as BetterUp has. We've hired many internal employees for management positions based off their potential to grow which is wonderful for their career development but requires their respective teams to be comfortable with incompetent management due to lack of leadership experience or actual job experience. - Most of the reviews you'll read here are biased because the company asks you to post a review when you onboard (and you're still motivated). I've been here for 1+ years and I've seen many many people get fired or quit (non-covid related) because of the two reasons above.

avatar
BetterUp Response
4y
Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts. We take feedback on our teammates’ experiences very seriously. and the ‘nepotism’ experience you outlined here is certainly not the internal promotion culture we’re aiming to cultivate. As with all external candidate interviews, our internal interview process is also standardized to minimize biases and to allow for hiring managers to make the best choice for their vacancy. Should you believe there are any biases that may be affecting a particular internal opportunity, please reach out to the dedicated HR Business Partner for that specific team to address this concern. As our company continues to scale, we recognize the growing pains and the need to address Manager Enablement opportunities. As revealed in our company-wide Culture Commits, this is a top priority for the company in Q1 and Q2, and we look forward to implementing more Manager Training initiatives in the weeks and months ahead. If you have any concerns regarding your team structure or about a specific individual manager, our open door policy and anonymous feedback mechanisms are always available to employees. Thank you again for being so candid in your feedback, and we look forward to continuing to empower our managers and to continue providing transparency in our internal promotion hiring processes. - The BetterUp People Team

Explore other reviews about BetterUp

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I'm not held here against my will for a cause... I'm paid to do something I actually care about. I see a lot of people on Glassdoor debating the strength of the business model, but I've never seen anyone argue that what BetterUp is trying to do isn't worth doing. I'm a part of a company thats net positive for the world. That alone feels like a feat in 2026. AND I'm getting paid well. No "mission discount".

Cons

This isn't a money-growing-on-trees unicorn startup from 2018. This business model is hard. We're selling human potential development when most companies are trying to figure out how to replace humans with AI. Its not easy but I think its kind of important... A lot of people experience being overwhelmed here. Thats real. It happens enough that clearly the culture is playing a role. Every company has its own version of crazy. My advice to people thinking about working here: ask direct questions in your interviews to figure out if you're okay with Betterup's kind of crazy. You'll get honest answers. After 3+ years I've genuinely grown to love it

2
5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nearly 8 years in, and the work still pulls me forward. What keeps me at BetterUp is that the problems are genuinely hard and genuinely worth solving. I came from engineering, so I'm wired to care about infrastructure, not just features, and this is one of the rare places where you can build something foundational and actually see it move metrics, clear escalations, and unblock a whole go-to-market motion. The mission isn't decorative here. I can feel the thread between the work and the outcome. BetterUp also trusts you to figure things out across lanes. I've written SQL, prototyped with AI tools, facilitated workshops, and co-designed vendor strategy, all as a PM, because the culture doesn't penalize curiosity or reaching into adjacent territory. And honestly, some of my closest friendships came out of this place. The people I work with, on engineering, on cross-functional teams, and in peer mentorship, are people I genuinely learn from and, in some cases, people I can't imagine not having in my life. That combination of meaningful infrastructure work, real trust, and people who challenge you and become your people is not easy to find. The benefits span beyond general work-life-balance, if you're curious about something, there's always an open door to learn and contribute. As a woman in tech, I cherish the fact that our colleagues listen to women, and our insight is taken into account instead of just ignored. It's nice to feel safe at work, able to speak your mind freely.

Cons

If you want a boring job, this is not the place for you.

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