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Vanguard Construction & Development

Is this your company?

Declining, hopeless, and sad place - Anonymous employee Vanguard Construction & Development Employee Review

1.0
20 June 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Most of the people working alongside you are talented survivors who are bonding over unpleasant experiences that exists there -Emotional support you'll need daily will create strong friendships -Great place to test your professional and emotional limits- you'll know what you're made of

Cons

-Turnover like revolving doors- 10+ people left in the last few months, it's a trend -Days off and holidays are another word for guilt, there's no space for decompression -Departments are understaffed and underappreciated, salaries are unfair, bonuses are sad -Owner preaches honesty but reacts with hostility and yelling, no place for constructive criticism, upper management doesn't support your growth -Much of upper management developed so much arrogance and inflated ego over the years that it leads them to be openly rude- to employees, to subcontractors, even to clients. To the outside the firm appears to be prestigious- what's happening inside is disorganized -Someone in upper management has an amazing talent for micromanagement to a pathological degree, leadership is compromised by nepotism and no accountability -Employee hierarchy is built on ego, favoritism and fear- if they don't like you, you'll know- no matter how competent and professional you are -Owners openly admit how they don't trust their own employees -Lack of accountability and search for a scapegoat is a constant theme -Feedback only welcome if it confirms what owners already want and believe -People are scared to speak up or "keep their head down"- a clear sign of an abusive and fear-driven culture -Strong emphasis that you are easily replaceable and don't matter

Explore other reviews about Vanguard Construction & Development

5.0
21 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Vanguard Construction & Development is a high-end boutique construction firm led by its CEO and Founder, Michael Strauss, who leads from the front lines. It was a pleasure working for someone as passionate and committed to the business as Michael. He is exactly the kind of leader people want to work for, and he provided me with valuable opportunities that played a significant role in my career growth and where I am today.

Cons

None that come to mind. I had a great experience.

1.0
22 Apr 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Restaurant Build Outs, Location, Colleagues

Cons

You paid $200K for a a leadership role months later, still overriding their contributions in every meeting. Here's what actually happened: you didn't hire a leader. You hired an audience for your own ideas, and you're paying six figures for the privilege. This is one of the most common patterns I see in founder-led companies between $10M and $50M. The founder knows they need help. They recruit someone great. Real experience. Real expertise. And then they spend every week second-guessing, overriding, and "just having a few thoughts" that undo months of strategic work. The hire isn't the problem. The founder's inability to stop being the expert in every room is the problem. When you hire a specialist and then won't take their advice, two things happen: Your best people stop offering their real thinking. They learn to just nod and execute your version. And your company stays exactly as small as one person's expertise allows it to be. If you're paying for experts and then doing the job yourself anyway, that's not leadership. That's expensive micromanagement. The fix isn't a better hire. It's a founder who's willing to let the hire be right. -Michael Stephens

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