Pros
Opportunities to work with some talented, thoughtful individuals who are ready to make an impact and help the company transition from a startup to a company with more structure (although these people often get shut down)
Cons
Short sighted leadership team: “being friends with our customer” disappears immediately whenever it conflicts with an opportunity to make short term profit. Wyze does not invest in products, it’s all about launching cheap product that last long enough for the next “upgrade” to come out. Customer service team is thrown under the bus all the time even though the entire team work day in and day out to do what is right for the customer and makes business sense. Nepotism at its finest as well as unprofessional comments made by leaders on marketing team: Some departments heads misunderstand the referral system as a way to get your friends and family jobs fast. Marketing team leaders cover for each other, lack diversity, and promote white males buddies of their own. The same leaders show little respect to both internal and external people, talk down and interrupt women all the time. Inexperienced leadership with zero willingness to learn and reflect: People don’t magically become leaders and we are all inexperienced at some point. However, individuals who joined the company early on and got promoted with no qualification to become leaders continue to live in their bubble. Unwilling to listen to new hires with fresh take and feedback, focus on the busy work rather than spending time getting to the bottom of what’s going on. Put their direct reports in fire fighting mode and motivate the team with empty promises and swag. Clogged leadership pipeline: Department heads act like individual contributors, take over other people’s responsibilities because they themselves wants to be recognized. Managers are expected to hold a full time IC role and find another 8 hours a week to manage people. Very few leaders who are qualified to provide coaching and lift the talent up as the company grows. Bad leaders love to keep the “yes men/women”. Toxic culture pushes good people and leaders out: This company is losing people fast. The individuals who challenge the leadership team and provide honest feedback are all leaving after realizing that nothing will change unless major changes happen to the executive team. Former Amazon employees run around with copying the leadership principles created for a different company, business model, and most important that aligns with the strategies. A senior leader once share that they are interested in firing an employee with me in a 1:1 setting. I can not say this enough, DO NOT join Wyze. I would not wish the kind of traumatic experience I had on my worst enemy.