Sano Genetics Reviews

3.7

62% would recommend to a friend

(27 total reviews)
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Patrick Short

75% approve of CEO

63% positive business outlook

Sano Genetics has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 27 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Sano Genetics employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

27 reviews
5.0
28 Dec 2024

A place to own your work and make a difference

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working at Sano means joining a team that genuinely cares about our purpose. Almost everyone here has a personal or professional connection to improving patient outcomes, so it’s never just about what we build—it’s about why we’re building it. You’re surrounded by people who push you to tackle tough, meaningful problems and who truly believe we can raise the bar for patient recruitment and clinical studies. It’s incredibly satisfying to see ideas turn into tangible tools that the entire team uses and praises. In just a year, we’ve boosted the speed, reliability, and overall quality of our study delivery, and hearing a healthcare provider call a new feature “almost too good to be true” pretty much sums up how rewarding that feels.
 One of the standout qualities of working here is the genuine autonomy each person has. There aren’t layers of approvals or rigid hierarchies, so if you see a gap, you can jump right in and fix it. That sense of ownership attracts people who love rolling up their sleeves, brainstorming solutions, and driving meaningful change. It helps that the mission itself resonates on a personal level for most of us: improving patient outcomes isn’t just a tagline, it’s a shared goal that motivates everyone. The benefits—like strong parental leave, well-being stipends, and access to therapy—reflect a real commitment to the team’s overall health.
 As we grow, our leadership structure is evolving, and the new VP of Product has brought more clarity and focus to our work. Prioritisation and feedback processes are sharper, helping everyone align around a clear vision and roadmap. It feels good to know where we’re headed and why—especially when we can see our collective efforts making a difference for patients and healthcare providers alike.

Cons

There’s no question the work can be challenging—healthcare innovation is tough, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Being a startup, we’re still building many of our structures and processes as we go, which can be unsettling if you need a lot of pre-set frameworks or prefer minimal change. Priorities can shift quickly, teams sometimes reorganise, and you have to be comfortable wearing multiple hats. Burnout can become a real issue if you don’t set boundaries or ask for help when you need it. At times, we also miss the mark in celebrating our wins before barreling ahead to the next big challenge, which can make it feel like accomplishments slip by unnoticed. If you thrive in a place with defined systems and less ambiguity, you may find this environment overwhelming.

5.0
14 Jan 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Sano fosters a positive working environment where work-life balance is genuinely prioritized. The company offers excellent benefits, and the flexibility of a remote work setup is both respected and well-supported. Sano apart is truly committed to a patient-centric approach, enabling the support of a diverse range of studies. It's exciting and rewarding to be part of a team that's making a real impact in personalized medicine.

Cons

As with any startup, there can be a need to shift focus or change direction. However, with new leadership and fresh ideas, it’s clear that the company is moving in a promising direction.

1.0
14 Nov 2024

Delusion at the top

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some people are nice, although there are lots of yes people (and they get favoured by leadership) The company do really care about work-life balance and you as people and offer great perks for their size (good parental leave, wellbeing budget etc)

Cons

I really care about Sano’s mission and what we’re trying do to improve the lives of patients but after so much time working here it’s been so disappointing. I still want Sano to do well, but I hardly see any evidence of us improving the lives of patient

 This company is a mirage. It markets itself as a game-changer in patient recruitment for clinical trials, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. The product is an absolute joke—outdated, broken, and virtually useless. And it’s been that way for years. Leadership knows it, but they refuse to acknowledge how much it lacks basic functionality, let alone fix them. They continue to lie to themselves about what the product does. The only reason clients stick around is because of the relationships built with them It has nothing to do with the product. 
The CTO’s leadership, in particular, is a major liability and his inexperience as we’ve scaled is so evident, it’s quite sad really. 

 There’s no coherent product strategy, and the product team suffers from a lack of direction and accountability. Feature requests—essential for meeting client needs—languish for months or even years. The CTO’s arrogance, inexperience and lack of judgement refuse to address the team’s and his own shortcomings which exacerbate the problem. This stifles any hope for innovation or progress. Despite the team’s best efforts to maintain client relationships, leadership remains deluded, believing the product itself is a selling point. It’s not. Clients stay because of personal connections, not because the product delivers results. In fact, across an entire year, we've managed to refer something like two patients to clinical trials—a glaring failure given its our supposed mission. 
 What’s worse is the company’s willingness to mislead clients about its capabilities and timelines about when features will get built. There is no product worthy of the name, and clients are sold an illusion of functionality and impact. This lack of transparency really damages trust internally and with clients. For any VCs considering an investment: tread carefully. Without substantial changes to leadership, product strategy, and delivery, this company is on very shaky ground. If you’re looking for returns, you’d likely be better off betting on Dogecoin.

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Sano Genetics Response
1y
Thank you for your feedback. I don’t think it’s constructive or fair the way you have focussed your criticism most significantly on one person. Internally we have multiple channels for providing feedback, including anonymously for the three founders, but shaming individuals publicly is not what we do at Sano. You say that you hadn’t seen the impact we are having, but in the past three years we have helped thousands of people get access to free genetic testing, for diseases including Parkinson’s, Dementia, Childhood Genetic Hearing Loss, liver disease, and many more. We have also helped tens of thousands of people get access to education about genetic testing and precision medicine. We have also helped significantly more people access clinical trials than what you’ve suggested in your post. In 2024 alone, we have referred dozens of people to rare disease clinical trials based on the genetic and medical data they have provided in their profile. Finally, as a startup, I know we are not perfect across any of these areas nor do we claim to be. We continuously aim to: 1. Improve our product to solve the problems our participants and customers face. We’ve made significant strides in this space with the recent hire of a VP of Product who has already addressed many of the issues you’ve raised. 2. Improve our processes so that our product, engineering, clinical/scientific, and delivery teams can always do their best to work together to solve the as yet unsolved the unique challenges that rare/ultra rare disease studies bring to patients, families, therapeutics developers, and software services providers like us. 3. Support our people, who are committed to our mission and vision. We have multiple ways an employee can raise concerns with regard to how we work internally and externally. Our people can anonymously report any concerns, speak with their managers as well as any member of the Executive Team, and of course they can always reach out to me directly as well. Patrick Short, CEO
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Glassdoor has 29 Sano Genetics reviews submitted anonymously by Sano Genetics employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Sano Genetics is right for you.