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Uptake

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Uptake reviews

3.0

43% would recommend to a friend

(262 total reviews)

Adam McElhinney

56% approve of CEO

36% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.6

Diversity & inclusion

3.6

Work/Life balance

3.5

Compensation and benefits

3.1

Culture & values

3.1

Career opportunities

2.7

Senior management

Uptake has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 262 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Uptake employee rating is 22% below average for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

262 reviews
2.0
Mar 20, 2018

Lots of Potential on a Downward Spiral

Engineer
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great office space with lots of perks (lots of free food). A lot of really really talented engineers.

Cons

Product direction is not there. There is a long history of ignoring user needs and instead "building to the contract". There are many cases of features being implemented because they where in the contract, even if they provided no value. Even worse were cases where features where designed and built knowing they could not be used by the users. Many talented product people have left because the company management does not allow them to do what needs to be done. Office politics are a major detractor. Some areas of the company operate on a death march attempting to deliver on unreasonable expectations. Some managers are always yelling at their reports (as well as people who are not their reports). Lots of competition among teams, lots of "lets build it ourselves and show them that we are better". Much of this behavior is enabled by influential people in the engineering organization. Most of the people who attempted to address this are no longer at the company.

avatar
Uptake Response
8y
Thank you for sharing your experiences during your time here. We continually assess how we can make it easier for people to operate at their own personal best and take this feedback seriously. We recognize the growing pains the company has experienced in building out our product vision, but we are excited about the strides we've made in developing our refined product structure and roadmap, providing clarity and direction both internally and externally. We also appreciate your feedback on your experiences with management. Providing clarity around what it means to be a good manager at Uptake is one of our key objectives for 2018 and we will take this feedback directly to the team. Senior leadership works to connect with and listen to what our employees are experiencing; it’s our wish that any current employee speaks up if they have similar questions, suggestions, or concerns. Thanks again for your feedback, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors
1.0
Jan 14, 2018

Uptake is full of hot air

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good benefits - Tons of learning opportunities - A good place to work if you're considered "indispensable" (that can change very quickly, though!) - Many smart, thoughtful, creative people work at Uptake.

Cons

- Classic Lightbank problems: overly confident, hires too quickly, can't imagine inevitable business fluctuations. In fact, I notice in another glassdoor review that Uptake responded to a review saying, they're currently planning on "aggressively" hire in areas that will support the future growth. I do not believe Uptake truly understands where it is going or growing and can foresee what it needs. Take a breather and learn from your mistakes. - Changes definition of self every 2 months - I understand Uptake is a young company, but Uptake brings someone new into leadership with a new shift/spin and can't really even decide what the product is. (Insert canned Uptake response here about how the products are great and super clear and well defined.. we swear!) This is in line with the recent layoffs as well - someone is considered "key talent" one day, and the next day isn't considered "part of the vision moving forward." Uptake is grasping at straws. - Staff have been forced into inside sales roles when hired in completely different roles - marketing, product, office of CEO to name a few -- watch out, you could be next! - While there are some experienced managers, Uptake is full of people managing huge teams for the first time, and all the manager training in the world can't really give them credibility. Because of rapid growth, managers not able to also able to grow their skills over time, expected to manage huge teams with ease and navigate rough waters - huge challenge and not particularly successful.

avatar
Uptake Response
8y
We appreciate your feedback on both the pros and cons of working at Uptake. We take this input seriously. We understand confusion always comes with tough business decisions and appreciate you asking questions. It was not easy, but Uptake made tough calls in places we had to in order for the organization to continue building a company with a mission to serve our customers and industries around the world. We continue to learn about ourselves and our customers. As a result, we have to be flexible and hire, make intentional shifts in focus, and give our current employees a chance to try something new when necessary. Sometimes the fun comes from the challenge of what is new. Thank you for your feedback on our management team. Providing clarity around what it means to be a good manager at Uptake is one of our number one objectives for 2018.
1.0
Aug 24, 2019

Too Late to Join Now

Data scientist
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I loved working on the data science team. I got to work with incredibly bright, talented, hard-working people. The projects were always interesting. My manager and lead were great. The team culture was pretty good. The office was really nice. The snacks were great. The hours were very comfortable. PTO was unlimited and people weren't afraid to take it.

Cons

I had a tough time deciding what the purpose of a Glassdoor rating is. Should it be a reflection of your experience working there and then potential employees can infer from the trend of ratings what direction the company is headed? Or should the star rating represent forward guidance for how future employees' experience would be? I ultimately decided on the second one. While my experience was 4-5 stars I don't think Uptake deserves that rating now. There is an embarrassingly low amount of money coming in, constant layoffs, and Koolaid-drinking management. Why would you lay off incredibly talented and productive engineers when so many others are quitting and you're about to run out of people to build your product? I don't think any employee there feels like they will still have their job one year from now.

Viewing 22 - 24 of 262 Reviews
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Glassdoor has 294 Uptake reviews submitted anonymously by Uptake employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Uptake is right for you.