Low market risk, high technical risk - Software Engineer Box Employee Review

2.0
Feb 27, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Business is doing well, seems to be in the right place at the right time. High growth company (expanding rapidly in all dimensions), free food, fun environment. Charismatic CEO gets attention and buzz for the company. New VP of Engineering bringing maturity and leadership to engineering organization.

Cons

If you're industry experienced (not "senior" as that's 1-2 yr out of college at Box) expect to be working almost entirely with inexperienced/young engineers. Most are great to work with and want to learn however in general the culture does not value experience; be prepared to see lots of questionable judgement/competence demonstrated by the homegrown tenured developers leading projects. Engineering caliber and quality of people is below Google / Microsoft levels. Surprising number of "seniors" lacking CS fundamentals (OO design, what's cohesion? using assertions?) Some B's hiring C's going on (... will hopefully improve as Box adopts more google like model in hiring, reviews, etc.) Lots of untested legacy code, 10,000 line functions, tightly coupled and fragile code is common place. Major efforts to write tests and turn quality around but very much work in progress.

Explore other reviews about Box

5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Strong executive leadership with clear direction - Customers see the value in the software and there is a product/market fit - Managers care about work life balance and your professional growth - Autonomy to do valuable meaningful work and focus on the right initiatives for your role

Cons

- Nothing comes to mind

2.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Competitive compensation and decent earning potential depending on segment. Opportunity to manage complex deal cycles. Broad product suite allows for cross-sell and solution-based selling. Active founder-led company

Cons

Poor management quality and leadership decisions can impact morale. Culture can feel less dull and lack energy especially compared to faster-growing tech companies. Selling the product can feel little exciting. Internal processes and decision-making can feel bureaucratic.

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