Due to large amount of fake reviews on here, I feel obligated to counter balance it.
1. Process is a big deal in this company. You have to follow every single step in the process or you could be in trouble. The whole engineering department runs on the concept of points. Every task is assigned some points. In the perfect agile world, tasks are estimated correctly in terms of level of effort. But this is not a perfect world, estimates are not always accurate, and you can't always complete the same number of points every single sprint even though you consistently give the same level of effort. This company definitely is willing to sacrifice efficiency in order to hold everyone accountable for what they do.
2. Thrive Market called itself a startup, but it has the bureaucracy of large corporations. There are a lot of politics across team or even in the same team. And you could get humiliated in front of your team by the management if they think you are not doing a good job.
3. The company had to rename its "Unlimited Vacation Policy" to "Flexible Vacation Policy", but it really is not flexible at all. Vacations that are longer than 2 days are strongly discouraged during their ever lasting busy seasons. Work from home is strongly discouraged as well.
4. Teams do not necessarily share the same goals. Once a feature is assigned to your team, and you happen to need help from another team, it is exceptionally difficult to get the other team to work with you. Apparently and understandably, every team has its own agenda due to #1 above. Your priorities are most likely not their priorities. If the feature is not delivered on time due to the fact that you receive no help from another team, you will still get blamed by the management.
5. Compensation is actually below standard. And their benefits are also below standard. Expensive health insurance and coverage is way too bad. Also, don't be fooled by the free lunch, it is salad and soup most of the time. Yet, for some reasons, Thrive Market has the audacity to be selective during their hiring process.
To all who consider working here, if you are fine with points listed above, go ahead and apply. Otherwise, there are better options out there. the demand for good engineers is very strong in the current market. If you really have no choice, just learn how to play the company game, do your points and get your paycheck. I am unfortunately not able to fit in this type of culture, but if you are, good for you.
