great classes but terrible/nonexistent management - Anonymous employee Makersquare Employee Review

Thank you for the feedback. Thank you also for acknowledging that the program is a "great experience and class for the students". After all, servicing students is what everyone working at MakerSquare cares about, so it's encouraging to hear that even with your very negative perception of the company, at least this was seen as positive from your perspective. Also, giving staff freedom to work on their own schedule is something that's really valued, and I'm glad you noticed it as such. Providing responsibilities that staff cares about and wants to take on is also a conscious decision, so I'm glad you noticed that being played out. I'd like to address each complaint specifically. In terms of the office space, you'll notice it's much improved. There are quiet areas, semi-quiet areas, low traffic areas, and high traffic areas for staff to work in, depending on their mood. There are also individual work areas throughout the building. I believe these are things that were put in place due to this exact feedback from staff, and within 30 days, the working environment had improved. I apologize you felt there were things that never materialized. I'd also like to address the salary complaint. I have been involved in each hiring decision, and in each decision, founders have been proactive in determining a salary that staff is comfortable with, and meeting it, exceeding it, or putting in a pre-determined schedule for meeting it. This has been the case in every hiring decision, and it seems you did not feel this way, or have changed your feeling about it. This discrepancy in the process and everyone's reaction towards it is confusing, so I will assume there was a misinterpretation on my end as to your initial feeling about compensation discussions. I will be sure that in the future, there are triple checks in place for making sure staff is comfortable with their compensation. In terms of founders not being available - I apologize you felt this way. There has been frequent communication via Slack, Text Messaging, E-mail, and Basecamp to prevent this feeling, but it seems like it was not enough to ensure you felt comfortable reaching out about your feelings. As an anecdote, all current students and alumni have direct access to founders via a simple Slack Direct Message, which many students have taken advantage of, and have publicly shown their appreciation of it. Your feedback about a founder taking up a week asking for feedback - this has been received with positive feedback amongst many of the current staff saying it was great to have very transparent feedback mechanisms. It is unfortunate that you did not feel this way, and I apologize that you felt so strongly about the situation without it being addressed. Thank you for the advice to management, I can assure you none of the founders treat MakerSquare as a game. It's what keeps us working 80 hour weeks (yes, 11+hours per day, every day), and it's what is at the top of our minds at any given hour of the day. It's unfortunate you had such a negative experience while you were employed at MakerSquare, it was certainly sub-par as you are describing it. I wish you the best of luck in future endeavors. Again, thank you for the feedback, as it will be used to improve the experience for current and future staff.