The Ship is Sinking - Anonymous employee OwnLocal Employee Review

1.0
26 Sept 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

At its peak (2016) OwnLocal was an easy 5/5. They also heavily invested in each employee's professional growth.

Cons

On top of recent massive layoffs, they are hemorrhaging the few remaining clients and employees every day. Some combination of ego, an attempted coup d'état, lurid love affairs between execs and most departments, puzzling financial management/acquisitions, a total lack of transparency, and an over-obsession with maintaining the cool/hip startup image, OwnLocal went from almost great to failure. On top of this they broke the news of the massive layoffs (about 40% of the company was laid off at once) via text-message. How Lloyd managed to take some of the most intelligent, creative, knowledgable, dedicated employees working at a fraction of industry standard salary for 50-60 hours a week with voluntarily no overtime pay and turn it into a disaster is almost baffling. He seems to think most of the blame lies with people/departments he has never actually worked with directly and knows nothing about.

Explore other reviews about OwnLocal

5.0
20 Oct 2021
Anonymous temporary employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Best compnay work for. Hands down

Cons

No bad things to say about them

5.0
29 Mar 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

OwnLocal is the most upbeat environment I've encountered after twenty years in the industry.The people are smart, responsible, and fun-loving. Control structures are loose and egalitarian; executives sit on the floor with engineers and salespeople. The culture encourages and celebrates success. Most organizations this size are rife with gossip and office politics, so I keep expecting the other shoe to drop, but it hasn't. If you have a lot of industry experience, you will be able to make a strong mark at OwnLocal because senior management is incredibly open and responsive to feedback. Self-honesty reigns here. If you're more on the junior side, you'll enjoy the organization because your voice will still be heard and you'll be teamed with talented engineers from whom to learn. And, of course, the perks: 24/7 parking, infinite Starbucks, great location, and an endless number of celebratory events.

Cons

OwnLocal is still working to properly formulate its engineering and product organizations. Engineering has improved significantly in just a quarter - in particular, by clustering into small initiative-driven teams and streamlining their hiring processes a bit. While not exactly a con, the transparency at OwnLocal can be occasionally shocking. Financials are made available to every employee. Salary structures are also public, which is unusual at a company this size. Senior management will admit to mistakes and flaws. Leave your optical game at the front door.

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