Format.com Reviews

3.4

56% would recommend to a friend

(15 total reviews)

John Loughlin

Not enough data to show CEO approval

61% positive business outlook

Format.com has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 15 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Format.com employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

15 reviews
1.0
8 Feb 2018

All that glitters is not gold

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great employee perks (health, social events, etc.). - Not terrible salaries for a startup. - Flexible schedule. - Free catered lunches (the company's business model is a cash cow). - Highly sociable environment. - Generally a great culture (except on the marketing team). - Many employees stay a long time (because they are basically unemployable anywhere else).

Cons

- NEPOTISM. Oh dear god so much nepotism. - Management in-fights during management meetings like bickering siblings. - Egalitarian to a fault - management is bullied and swayed by employees but do not actually look at systemic issues in their departments. - Little accountability. Performance is not measured in actual delivery or project success. Squeaky wheels get the grease, usually in the form of ridiculous titles and undeserved promotions, more often than those who regularly work overtime to make up for team laziness. - Marketing is full of narcissism and brattiness, which I suppose makes up for their total lack of actual business acumen. The culture on that team is particularly broken. - Aside from Data team, there is zero understanding of analytics and finance across the company. Team members actively avoid shifting to data-driven decision-making. - Probably the most inefficient workplace in the world. Everyone chats on Slack all day, but claim to be "stressed" when they can't meet timelines (even though they set the timelines themselves).

avatar
Format.com Response
8y
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. At Format, we thrive on feedback--both the good and bad. It’s how we focus on continual improvement. However, two things that we don’t condone here are the false remarks and disparaging comments made about our team members. I will assume that you are coming from a place of positive intent when you posted this review, which is why I want to take the time to speak to some of the items you mentioned. Our team is the best in the business: talented, driven, caring, smart and collaborative. It is the through the determination and hard work of our dedicated team that we have become the successful, self funded, 50 person company that we are today. When someone visits our office or uses our products they see and feel the hard work, care and dedication the Format team members have for what we do and the creative community that we serve. Thank you for labeling our management team as “siblings”, I will take that as a compliment. I agree that we are candid with each other which is relatable to how siblings act. As managers we are big fans of Radical Candor (see book by Kim Scott) which we find to be the most effective leadership style. I would go as far as saying that we have succeeded as a managerial team through our ability to discuss and resolve issues quickly. We work extremely hard to retain our top talent and make sure that our team members are happy and set up for success. As you know, we ensure this by providing feedback regularly through 1:1s, formal reviews, and yes, regular conversations on Slack. We have achieved some remarkable accomplishments and wouldn’t be this successful without our people. That is why we treat our team well and provide promotions when deserved. We understand that some of your feedback is coming from a place of anger and the changes that we experienced on the marketing team this past year. It was just as difficult for us as it was for you. We are a bootstrapped company and we had to make some tough decisions to succeed, including reorganizing the marketing team. We are very excited about the direction that the team is now headed in. We’ve made great strides and are continuing to put our people first, something that we will always do. I have decided not to address many of your comments that I believe are completely fabricated. If you wish to talk about these personally with me, you can always reach out. I do, however, wish you all the best on your next creative endeavor. - Lukas / CEO of Format
5.0
15 Feb 2018

One of a kind

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Format has a clear values, vision, mission and long term strategy - Financially stable self-funded company that focuses on work that has impact on its community as well as its business - Culture at Format is quite amazing. The company is filled with a talented group of people that care about each other, the product and Format’s success. - The management team does a great job ensuring the company continues to grow even though it’s completely self-funded - All format departments are well defined and working with little friction. A focus on process and good planning ensures most work moves smoothly and results in a successful outcome - Trust is a foundation of Format’s success. Managers trust their team members while ensuring they are happy and productive. Team members continuously build that trust by having autonomy in producing work that has impact. - This is a design driven company. Which has resulted in design and engineering working really well together. - Format does a great job growing the team by hiring driven, experienced and caring people

Cons

The company had a hard time scaling Marketing for a while. It looks like things are working smoothly now with a well defined path to success.

avatar
Format.com Response
8y
We appreciate the feedback. We are very proud of our mission, vision, values and long-term strategy that we refined and shared with the team in September. Thanks for sharing about the trust that we have between management and all team members - we think this is special too!
4.0
21 July 2016

truly a talented bunch of individuals

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fancy espresso machines, cold brew coffee, group outings, hackathons, aeron chairs, office dogs, flexible vacation and remote working -- I worked at Format for over 3 years, and saw it grow and change in many ways. Scaling a startup can be difficult, but the owners of the company really took the time to listen to employees and work at improving everyone's experience. Growing the team was something that was always carefully considered, because of how closely we all worked with one another - and how important free-flowing Slack conversations are in our day to day. I left simply to pursue new things, and I wish them all the best!

Cons

Design and Development definitely take precedence within the company. If you're working in another area, you have to be comfortable working autonomously as you might be the only employee doing what you do.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 15 Reviews

Glassdoor has 16 Format.com reviews submitted anonymously by Format.com employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Format.com is right for you.