Pros
- Tons of opportunity to take initiative and to switch roles/departments/teams. - Many things are tried. Once it becomes apparent what works, resources are quickly aligned accordingly. This seems a very efficient way to behave in an environment as dynamic as internet marketing. - Senior management clearly is working on building a large and world class company that will last. The IPO was merely a milestone along the way. Internal policies and priorities are set accordingly. - The up or out policy clears out non-performers. - Great employee training programs and off sites.
Cons
- Pressure is always on, but... ...that is life in Silicon Valley with a company going places. - CEO is ex Navy and has a saying "loose lips sink ships". The benefit is that QuinStreet keeps its leadership position. There are some downsides: Employees lower down don't always know the latest thinking and sometimes can feel left out. Rumors (both positive and negative) occasionally start which management isn't always aware of and/or doesn't address. This can be tiresome. - Company doesn't always seem to be the smartest at deciding which projects to start/back. Senior leadership rather than the market or more knowledgeable people lower down seem to drive the projects candidates. Too often projects need to have near term revenue/profit capability. From time to time this seems to result in suboptimal long term resource allocation. Some projects cannot easily be justified with a spreadsheet. A gutfeel and monitoring of industry/technology trends should be enough. For projects originating from senior management that seems to be OK, for projects coming from the ranks, less so. That is a shame. Having said this, luckily management makes no bones about taking corrective actions quickly. Having a profitable company also gives scope for making some mistakes.
