Incredibly toxic thanks to inexperienced leadership and poor decision-making - Anonymous employee Metal Toad Employee Review

2.0
2 Feb 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Metal Toad has a knack for attracting really great people. For the most part, the production staff (engineers, project managers, and product owners) were talented, easy-to-work-with, and generous with their knowledge. I count many of my former Toad peers as lifelong friends as a result of our time together. And as a space to work in, Metal Toad provided all the comforts you would expect from a Portland-based tech agency - sit/stand desks, beer on tap, premium snacks, all the La Croix you can drink, etc. On paper it read like a top tier software agency, even if the pay and benefits were middling at best.

Cons

Looks can be deceiving. Metal Toad's leadership, unfortunately, prevented the company from being anything other than a toxic tech agency stereotype. From the inexperienced CEO who treated the business like a hobby, to the CTO who lied to employees and over-promised to clients, to a sales function that never came close to creating revenue stability in the organization. Metal Toad's leadership consistently chose short term wins at the expense of long term gain - there was no vision or roadmap guiding these decisions, just a basic desire for money even if that meant regularly undercutting project budgets/schedules, promising skillsets we didn't possess, and overworking the production teams. Despite massive employee attrition, client lawsuits, and poor financial performance, this pattern has continued unabated.

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Metal Toad Response
7y
I want to start by thanking you for taking time to share difficult feedback with us; I know it can be uncomfortable, and I appreciate your forthrightness. Second, I want you to know that I genuinely take to heart a phrase like “incredibly toxic,” and your characterization is an opportunity for me (and the entire team) to do some reflection on why one employee’s experience felt that way, and what we can do differently in the future. While I may not agree with all your assessments, your feelings regarding your experience are absolutely valid. Metal Toad has evolved a lot in the last year—and that’s meant both exciting successes as well as growing pains. As we’ve expanded into new areas and taken on new challenges, I can see how the rapid pace of our trajectory may have put distance between leadership and the rest of the staff—and that’s not reflective of the culture we want to cultivate. Your comments are a helpful reminder for us to step back, look at our values, and make an honest assessment of where we’re falling short of them—and take immediate steps to fix those gaps. That’s an immediate top priority for all of us. I’m very proud of the work we do at Metal Toad, and of the incredible talents of the Toads—past, present, and future. This really is, as you say, a place where people make lifelong friends. In that spirit, I welcome you to reach out to me if you have any additional feedback or specific suggestions for improvements.

Explore other reviews about Metal Toad

5.0
1 Dec 2021
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It's a fun, caring, encouraging, challenging team and and environment that thrives on doing great things for customers and building opportunities for employees. Management is transparent and quick-to-share what's going in the business... and authentic and genuine in recognizing and being interested in employee excitement, satisfaction and overall interest.

Cons

It would be terrific to be able to be together occasionally as an entire team - but we are spread from the Northwest US and California to Brazil - a truly global team. ZOOM keeps us connected though.

1
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Metal Toad Response
3y
Thank you for taking the time to share your review!
4.0
28 Mar 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good company to work, good place to learn

Cons

Need to work in many projects at the same time

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