balena reviews

Balena is run and shaped by a number of individuals with big egos and really poor people skills. There is an expectation that those who join the company will adapt completely to their way of working which is disorganised, ego driven, and lacking in basic common sense. They use double-speak phrases such as “you need to unlearn everything you previously knew” to explain away which is essentially just a top-down, change-resistant culture. Feedback is often sort and then rejected, sometimes aggressively by the execs. It’s not uncommon for those who offer constructive criticism to be pulled into meetings with the CEO so that he can yell at them. Personally I found it hugely emotionally draining to exist in a company that states constantly that it believes in “radical candor” and asks directly to be challenged only to systematically reject, deny, and squash any form of dissenting views. It lead to a lot of sleepless nights and other symptoms of constant-low level stress. Getting anything done at Balena seems to be completely impossible. The code is a mess and the infrastructure massively over-engineered. Simple changes lead you down rabbit holes to technical debt and getting a PR merged can take weeks or even months. There are no sprints, job boards, or any form of process that involves collaboration. The only way that Balena knows how to work is to assign an epic of work to one person and leave them to it with no guidance or proper check-ins. Most projects are paused before they are can be completed so that new work can be taken up instead. This is usually in response to some new philosophy or whim from the CEO about the direction of Balena. At least half of the team are deeply unhappy and seeking other opportunities. Staff turnover is really high and the product is going nowhere. The people who made the things you know and love from Balena have all burned out and left. Even these glass door reviews have been rejected as emotionally-charged responses from square pegs who couldn’t adapt themselves to a different environment. But people don’t like to fail in any environment and do not take leaving a job lightly. I spent a long time attempting different ways to work at Balena before concluding that there was just no possible way to be successful in this environment

Not cons but things to consider when thinking whether balena is the right place for you! The learning curve can be steep! Your years of experience and expertise are useful but embracing the balena values and goals, as well as understanding the problems and needs in-depth come first. Expect to be challenged, a lot! Even more, if you come in full of ideas, tools, and approaches that have worked for you before. There is a lot of space for growth but definitely not in the traditional way of performance reviews, promotions and climbing up an org chart ladder if that is what you are after! Being proactive, self-motivated, not relying on being told what to do next and being able to ask for feedback, help and guidance when needed are some of the key characteristics that will help you feel settled and successful at balena. If you expect the traditional check-ins and line managing relationships, you will not get this here. Everyone at balena trusts that you will do what you have to in order to contribute to the success of the company! Things move and change very fast at balena. The strategy team has the hard job of making sure that everything is well connected and coordinated. This might feel like they are jumping on details sometimes and maybe this is how micromanagement mentioned in other reviews here has come into play. Trying to see the bigger picture and having a lot of context will help you clearly see the intentions behind these behaviours and understand how balena works.