Pros
As of August, 2021: - There are still a handful of employees that are trying hard - Very few incompetent individual contributors - There is cash in the bank. You should apply to work at PAX if you are unemployed and need a job. You should not apply to work at PAX if you have a job or have other job opportunities.
Cons
Overview - The whole thing is a joke. Vulnerable questions at All Hands are answered with non-answers. Timelines are consistently missed. People leaving the company en masse is viewed as a net positive because it slows the cash burn. Management - Since Fall of 2019, senior leadership at PAX has been a revolving door. In that time there was the CEO, followed by an iterim CEO (general counsel), followed by another interim CEO (outside management consultant Mike Murphy), followed by another interim CEO (the former CFO), and finally today's full-time, permanent CEO, Adam Cahan. - Over that same time period, the BOD was replaced by two fine gentlemen who had not once ever been to a dispensary. - In the last seven months the following leadership positions have been vacated: Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Financial Officer, SVP Global Supply, VP Software, SVP Product, VP of People / HR, and many other Director level positions. - One might assume that with all of the turnover at the leadership level, the company would be poised for a turn around. The reality is that those key positions were a) not back filled, b) backfilled without an interview process, or c) PAX has been unable to recruit for them. Culture - PAX has invested in numerous Culture Amp surveys and routinely fails to act on the results. One of the prompts that always scores the worst is "I believe that action will be taken as a result of this survey." Without fail, everyone votes that no action will be taken, and like clockwork, no action is taken. - Regrettable attrition. It's tough to stay motivated when you see peers and fellow high performers fleeing the company for better opportunities. Instead of addressing this head on, management buries their heads in the sand and ignores it. - Return to work - PAX is trying to get people excited about coming back into the office once COVID cools down, but the reality is that no one is excited to go back to work for PAX, COVID or not. Vision - Adam Cahan wants PAX to be a national cannabis brand, which is a worthwhile endeavor. The problem is that PAX doesn't really know the cannabis consumer and what they want. As PAX's competitors in the hardware space launch iterative products and new categories, PAX is still looking around for the "next billion dollar idea." - Products that could generate revenue are shunned because the Board doesn't think the revenue is enough. Product - PAX has aging products. - The PAX Era and PAX 2 / 3 are great devices. Unfortunately there is no vision to iterate or improve upon them. PAX continues to launch new colors instead of new products. - There is no real Product leadership at PAX, The general consensus is that because Adam Cahan vies himself as a "product guy" he doesn't see a need to bring in a strong Chief Product Officer or VP or Product. - PAX continues to lean into it's app experience - which doesn't generate any revenue for the business. Engineering - There is no R&D - Pod programs launch, delay, change scope, delay again