BrainStorm Reviews

4.0

72% would recommend to a friend

(99 total reviews)

John Wade AND Eric Farr

81% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

BrainStorm has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 99 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The BrainStorm employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

99 reviews
1.0
26 Mar 2018

Client Success Manager

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only "Pro" about this is, finding a real job working for someone else instead of this shady "start-up" company.

Cons

Way too many to lists, would take me all day to fill in all the cons here.

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BrainStorm Response
8y
You'll have to forgive us if we fail to take appropriate action on this feedback. It lacks elements that are constructive, specific, and seemingly legitimate. We think it best for us to set this aside and get back to work. Thank you.
4.0
31 Jan 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- It's an incredibly positive workplace. We have a very supportive group & atmosphere. It feels more like a family than a group of work colleagues. - The team I'm on prioritizes clear communication, and works towards it as a goal - BSI puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to taking care of their employees. We have excellent perks--flexible work schedules, endless soda, breakfast foods, & snacks, & a week of holiday activities with really nice employee holiday gifts (I got a 50-inch TV one year). - Excellent health coverage; as someone who has a long-term illness that is managed by pricey medications, our health plan saves me thousands of dollars per year. - Awesome culture club activities. "Fun" is an unofficial company value, and it shines through in everything about the company. A great example: we've seen the last two Star Wars movies at private screenings on the Friday they open (with the cost totally covered by the company). - It's an incredibly ethical company. I've never been placed in a position here that conflicts with my personal code of ethics. At other companies, I've been encouraged to stretch the truth, or to pressure customers to buy things they don't need. We are expected to do our very best, and to under-promise and over-deliver. It's refreshing. - We have something called the BOOM campaign. It's an opportunity to have management fund a "bucket list" item for a lucky BSI team member. They basically want to help us check things off our bucket list. We do a few of these per year; this year, one of our team members is going to chocolate/culinary school in Europe to become a chocolatier. Last year, a team member went to Ireland to find his adopted father's birth family. It's amazing. - BSI focuses on whole person. We emphasize work/life balance, with a work-hard-play-hard atmosphere. - They care that each person is fulfilled and happy in their role. - Upper management is very transparent with the goals of the company, and share their vision with every member of the team in our monthly meetings. It shows trust in each and every member of the BSI team. - I really love what I do in my role. I'm passionate about it, and I get a lot of satisfaction & feel rewarded by the work itself.

Cons

Most of the cons on this list can be attributed to growing pains. We started out pretty small, and have grown exponentially in the last 5 years. - Sometimes, I'm not sure who "owns" what, and there aren't clear boundaries between teams. Sometimes I don't know who my boss is and who to listen to when I get conflicting directions from different members of management or from other teams. - There have been a number of HR issues in the years I've been here, with no clear pathway to address serious issues. Everyday sexism is always an issue in tech, and it's definitely one here. We did win an award as being one of the best workplaces for women. However, the questions on that survey mostly regarded how well the company abides by the law in regards to equal pay, growth opportunities, etc. While that still puts us ahead of most tech companies, we have a long way to go if we want to be as competitive as larger companies in this area. Having a clear HR process would help that a lot. The non-HR process issue has been raised with at least one member of top management by multiple people on multiple occasions, but there hasn't been any action taken to put one in place. It's disappointing that they don't consider it a priority. I think this issue arises from BSI being a really fun-focused, casual work environment. Unfortunately, some people take that as permission to make jokes and share derisive opinions about minority, LGBT, or other disenfranchised groups. (Two people dressed up as a before-and-after transgender celebrity for Halloween, and I've heard disparaging remarks about LGBT people, "women in the workplace," and racial minority groups). It happens on the middle-management & team member level, and while it's definitely not endorsed by the top management, it's not prevented or addressed, either. Expecting everyone to be professional and inclusive isn't enough, since everyone's idea about what is professional and inclusive varies.

5.0
26 Jan 2017

Is this real life?

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

BrainStorm has all the pro's and none of the cons about working in a start-up environment. The workplace is energetic and innovative. The people are passionate and committed. Leadership demands employees perform at their highest level of ability but also place immense trust in their ability to do so. The BrainStorm work environment is perfect for those who are looking to make a real impact. Team members are rewarded for innovative thinking and work hard because they care about what we are building. It's exciting to be surrounded by A-players with a cause. BrainStorm has a lot of the fun office perks that other tech companies have - fooseball championships, spikeball games, monkey bars, ski passes, unlimited cereal and drinks. But, what makes BrainStorm unique is it's unwavering commitment to integrity, its investment in employee growth and development, and smart leadership. The Haunted House the CEO's set up in their office every Halloween for employee's kids is pretty awesome too!

Cons

The cons that come to mind are cons that are probably pretty common with any organization, but that I see being actively addressed. The area that I feel we struggle with the most is teams working in isolated silo's. It causes inefficiency when teams aren't working in synch with each other. We've recently starting hiring cross-team leaders to help with the collaboration. We've also started holding multi-team collaboration sessions. It's good to see we're at least headed in the right direction.

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BrainStorm Response
8y
Great review and great insights. Thank you. I love how passionate and invested PropellerHeads are in their work and in life. Couldn't agree more with the challenges of cross-team collaboration. Hiring has been such an emphasis that over the last 2-3 years >30% of the team has been here less than a year. We've found ourselves having to communicate over and over again what different departments even do, and struggling to spend ample time on current team initiatives. Let me ask a favor, please spend adequate time in (and support your team doing the same) Yammer. As we all work more "open" and less and less in email our collaboration will increase. Love it! Thanks, again.
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