There are just so many things WRONG with Funko. I remember having a conversation with the recruiter who was instrumental in my getting the job initially, and I recall him saying, “they just don’t know what they don’t know.” Boy, that’s true. The entire management team has no conception of what they have and how to make it scale. Any company that does manufacturing and does not understand the importance of a packaging engineer - is simply amateurish. As a former Senior Packaging Designer to the company, it was clear to me that they had no understanding regarding the importance of packaging and how it could be used to really push the overall experience of buying one of their “Pops.” It was abundantly clear that packaging is just a utility - which is why they have an entire staff made to use the same flawed package dieline over and over again - only making minor changes to package art. If it wasn’t for their Asian vendors, Funko probably wouldn’t have any innovation in their packaging at all. Because, let’s face it - high concept packaging would not be coming from their stateside staff - who have no training or clue as to what would make for a good or compelling package design. The company is way too heavy with managers and directors. As a consequence, there are too many cooks at the pot - making it impossible to get anything done. Also, there is no “stick-to-it” ness regarding decisions. They are constantly changing their minds which continues to lead to zero innovation in their product or the work place. Moreover, upper management and their immediate underlings have created a high school culture of “mean girls.” And, the same management might listen to ideas from staff but are loathed to do anything about said ideas as those concepts did not originate with them. In the brief time I worked for the company, I have seen a few people unceremoniously let go and for no apparent reason other than they were probably unwilling to kiss the proverbial “butts” of said management. As a matter of fact, regarding my own dismissal, under the guise of the pandemic, 250 employees (myself included) were let go via a conference call. However, following said layoff, Funko had one of their best quarters in the entire financial history of the company. In short, it is my estimation that Funko is a clear example of the “lunatics running the asylum.” The management (and underlings) are petty, scared, power driven, feckless, mediocre talent-less hacks, most likely immoral (into orgies and the like - I’m not kidding), and are incredibly endowed with just plain stupid luck. And, luck, like many things in life, will run out. See their recent earnings and dips in their product sales for 2023.
