BrainCo Reviews

All of us that had to do the work did it and did it without saying it was out of our scope. We truly believed that our products could/were incredible, but... Things went from bad to worse in a matter of weeks last year. The CEO showed up, set goals that weren't based on any actual information, shook up a number of business units, and the US president took a leave of absence to care for a newborn and then left altogether. Nothing was as it should have been, no project was thoughtfully designed for the markets that all of a sudden it was intended to sell in, global communications were a total mess with no one being on the same page, the US teams had to report things out weekly for what they did but no support was provided if it was identified as a need. And if something was greenlighted, you were scrutinized by the overseas team as to why it was needed, after it was approved... Everyone had been told that their jobs were safe and then throughout the remainder of the year all of the original staff on all three business units was let go. Most of us actually felt a sense of relief for not having to deal with the day to day changes & nonsense. We had quarterly plans we had to present on but nothing ever happened to those, we never got feedback if those were the right or wrong things to focus on. There was no true yearly plan, or a strategy set for the next several years. It was said to be "too difficult to do in a start up" - so those of us that knew that flying by the seat of your pants wasn't how a business should be run, made our own strategies and plans that worked for our projects. The business unit leaders basically became managing directors of their business unit. There was someone that ran an entire business unit by herself for years, with no other US staff members. That business unit seemed to grow over the remainder of the year and finally got the help it needed. The lack of strategy, for any large project ever, was always a major issue but the lack of any business sense from those that are supposed to be at the very top, beyond the US team, was astounding. This resulted in the CEO showing up and presenting completely unrealistic expectations/goals, not as motivators but rather scare tactics. When questioned how those goals were set, we were told not to worry about it. The CEO likes to just put numbers out there... It's really too bad because the caliber of the talent here was unreal. Everyone truly believed in what could be and worked hard to ensure that what they put out was top notch. Now it looks like they were trying to look for a CPAP industry market expert? Really???? Focus!

There are always cons for any company anyone works for. Working at BrainCo is just about the same as working for any biotech startup type of company out there. There are definitely times when I need to work overtime and even over the weekend or holidays. Startup being startup, it is not going to be as structured as corporate America. I don't mind the cons because to me the reward is much bigger.