Pros
LaunchSquad works with a lot of interesting, innovative companies and you’ll learn a lot (about PR, about tech, media, niche industries, etc.) quickly. The plethora of internal review processes can be helpful in getting your work up to a certain standard very quickly. Coworkers and teammates are all very smart, driven people. A+ snacks and pretty good benefits.
Cons
The entry-level pay does not compute with the sheer volume of work and expectations at this company. I found work-life balance to be hardly ever discussed at the company and this is partially because of how bureaucratic they’ve set up their teams to run. All team members getting to be on the client call does not make LaunchSquad a “flat” organization nor make teams any less hierarchical. There are too many internal review cycles for any given task and “happy to take a look” becomes not sending an email out for at least a few hours – an odd set up given the amount of false internal urgency that is created by internal teams daily. The workload at LaunchSquad is frequently enormous and dismissed as characteristic of the industry rather than caused by overservicing clients. The lack of diversity in the SF office is immediately apparent, and again, often dismissed as characteristic of the industry. I also did not leave with faith in the HR department to appropriately address this issue when, despite public statements that diversity and inclusion are a company priority, partners are overheard claiming that they won’t “lower the bar” for hiring in the name of diversity behind closed doors. I both hope LaunchSquad will be more diverse in the future yet I would not recommend this environment in its current state. Also, despite the company being overwhelmingly white and female, expect to mostly hear the male partners run important company meetings. Lack of transparency around your progress at the company and negative feedback will often outweigh the positive even when you are performing well.