Maistro reviews

2.4

32% would recommend to a friend

(61 total reviews)

Laurence Cook

100% approve of CEO

28% positive business outlook

Maistro has an employee rating of 2.4 out of 5 stars, based on 61 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Maistro employee rating is 38% below average for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

61 reviews
1.0
Feb 8, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Social atmosphere and pizza lunch every other week (if you can make it through the CEOs narcissistic, hour-long ramble)

Cons

I struggle to know where to begin. You are supposed to have passion for the company you work for - a high sense of morale. Not one person that I know of feels this way. The CEO will not acknowledge you unless you are upper management. You are below him, and he will let you know. Upper management are so stressed trying to meet his fervent demands that those below have little guidance and yet are still under pressure to perform even without appropriate training. And as training goes, don't expect a single benefit. They dont pay for training for anyone and are only beginning to pay pensions because its mandatory. Despite this, and at one point a company consisting primarily of unpaid (oh but lets not forget they get £70 travel remuneration a month - generous) and poorly paid interns, they continue to punch above their weight. The CEO has a history of starting companies and dissolving them before they have much of a chance to get far - blur is following by example. Since their insistance to target 'enterprise level customers' theyve gone downhill even faster than ever before. I have watched senior members of staff bully those they are supposed to mentor. They have patronised, belittled, degraded and berated people for simple mistakes, once again only examples of how correct training hasnt been implemented. Even when mistakes arent made, and people perhaps arent working like donkeys as expected, or have chosen to work in a way that suits them outside of the intense micro management. People are afraid to ask for help or advice. You are putting people off just as their careers are beginning!

1.0
Nov 10, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The concept is fantastic and the dream is visionary..... the execution however is anything but! There are some good people at the company but they are sadly few and far between - and they should get out while they can.

Cons

Most deluded environment I have ever worked in! There is lots of belief the company is already a world leading organisation that can compete with major procurement portals and SaaS providers, and that major global companies are queuing up at blur's door to work with the company as obviously blur knows best! A bubble exists and irrespective of feedback people who make decisions remain firmly in it and live on a different planet, and they try to brainwash staff to this world. The CEO's book "Size Zero Enterprise" was meant to teach businesses how to operate in a new digital world yet the reality is the 11+ was at a similar level. There is backstabbing, empire building, and lies galore. No real ethics or morals on how to treat staff and employees are chastised if dare to speak out or ostracised once leave - no employee loyalty whatsoever. Management make promises and advocate honesty yet do not practise it in any way. Commercial models are too greedy - the company wants their cake and to eat it. Revenue predictions have to be exaggerated to fulfil commitments to those funding the company but they are far from real. If you believe the bravado blur will be the next biggest thing and take over the world.... the reality is the company will be lucky to be around in 12 months. There is no trust or belief from investors, or the market, in the management team to deliver any success, and no expectation a return will be seen for the investment made.

1.0
Dec 2, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Met a couple of nice people who have become good friends (all of them have left of course). The senior management are a great way to learn how NOT to manage a company and what NOT to do. So I have learnt a lot from them.

Cons

Everything else that's not in pros is a con. You cannot work at blur Group without losing a part of your sanity and your hope. During my time at this company, I have seen about 60 people leave, offices close, and the company shares fall unbelievably low. The bi-weekly two hour pizza lunches that the CEO gives is a platform for his egotist speeches. The pizza lunches also take away precious work time, but still the management expect delivery of work on time. On one of the lunches, there was a software deployment scheduled for 4pm in the afternoon. Instead of letting the developers go test the changes that they have made and make sure that everything is ok, he made them sit down for the pizza lunch. Even though the engineering manager advised that the release would be delayed. However, he did not heed the advice and still expected the deployment to happen on time. He also likes to play his favorite song of the period on the speakers at full blast expecting everyone to enjoy it. The CEO also claims to not like 'silos' so has everyone sitting in an open plan office. The office area has no meeting rooms either. However, when he invites investors or does a talk, he expects there to be utter silence in the whole of the office, otherwise there's a rampage of emotion from him. The senior management are akin to a comedy club of inefficiency and detrimental development. Especially on the tech side. Don't expect to get any requirements or scope for the work that you need to do. Expect to know what to do, then get it wrong anyway because the bosses changed their mind, guess your way through their minds, have it thrown out the window, then they demand it anyway, work on it again, and then make a bunch of changes, and hopefully maybe it will see the light of day. The pay is terrible compared to the market rate. They pull you in with promises of personal development and promotions, but fail to deliver on any of it. There is no notion of flexible time or overtime pay. There were many night time deployments, and many times where some of the developers had to work for 12 hours +. However, they were still expected to be at their desks at 9am sharp the next day. Did I mention that there was no extra pay either? Speaking of 9am, EVERYONE had to be at their desks at 9am sharp, and must leave only after 1800. Most people ended up working from 0830 till 1830 due to public transport and this rule. Many of the reviews that I have read here of 4 stars and above, are reviews by people who are 'asked' to do so by the management so that they appear as a good company on Glassdoor. Or they are in love with the CEO. I do not include my time at this company in my CV anymore as it's better to say that you have been travelling rather than say that you have worked at this company. After this review, I would like to never be associated with it again. I have rated 'career opportunities' as 4 stars, since this experience taught me what not to look for in a company, what to avoid, etc. That was very helpful. I will not be making the same mistake again.

Viewing 16 - 18 of 61 Reviews

Glassdoor has 77 Maistro reviews submitted anonymously by Maistro employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Maistro is right for you.