Pros
Zenyum was built to disrupt dentistry and transform it into a world of smile cosmetics. You can see the ads, the communication, the technology behind the application, the disruption, the cool vibes, and the process and product innovation at its core. Your job will be fun.
I was a member of the executive team for almost four years, even reporting directly to the CEO. I met amazing people, I am friends with the CEO and quite a few of the senior and junior team, and I learned a lot.
Cons
Same for every startup: The job is demanding. Startups need to disrupt, and that is generally done with speed — time-to-market is the key to success. Speed means late nights, weekends, and more than one canceled plan with a friend. Make peace with it or don't, but that will be the price.
The pay will be below market. Salary: generally below market, as is typical for startups, and so it was at Zenyum. ESOP/Options/Shares are supposed to be the dream — the "all this effort will be worth it someday" element. Here, Zenyum was neither too generous nor fair.
Zenyum did not give the Share Options earned by approximately 40 people the respect they deserved. In the latest acquisition by makeO (parent of Toothsi), we received a letter from Zenyum Legal stating that our ESOPs had been "canceled." From our research, they used a legal technicality to kill them. No explanation from the CFO, VC investors, or acquirers — just a silent dismissal.
I could not have predicted that they would use a legal technicality to take our shares away, especially given that Sequoia and L Catterton were the investors.