Pros
Met some amazing colleagues (most of which have also quit) and developed close friendships through trauma bonding.
Cons
I don’t even know where to begin and what stories to highlight to demonstrate the completely toxic nature of this company. Unfortunately many people have negative experiences in the workplace nowadays, but I don’t think it’s possible to find a worse organization than i80. A comprehensive list of grievances isn’t even possible for this forum, but I’ll share a few so you can decide if you still want to pursue joining this company. But consider yourself warned. 1. The founder/CEO, Marc Helwani, is one of the meanest and most narcissistic people I have ever met. He has single-handedly destroyed the quality of life for almost every employee. You will only be in his graces if you completely bend to his every demand, do not speak up, and do not expect to be compensated or promoted for your blindly ignorant loyalty. He has yelled, belittled, name called and racially profiled employees. He has referred to former employees as “a cancer” to external parties, and he has swept employee departures under the rug in a feigned attempt to bolster his delusional narrative that their departures are beneficial to the firm. He is a professional micromanager and a tyrant. 2. To quote Marc, who shared this to the entire firm in February 2023, “if you value perks, benefits, work-life balance, or optimizing for life outside of work, then i80 is not the place for you.” The company is in 5 days a week with zero flexibility. Expect to be in 8:30am-7pm every day at a bare minimum, and your arrival/departure times are closely monitored. However, I should note that Marc only recently started coming to the office at all, but he (again verbatim quote) “is the only one at the firm who has reached the point in his career where he can optimize for life outside of work.” There was a wifi outage for 2 days in the office and no one was allowed to WFH. Instead we were forced to use personal hotspots because butts were needed in seats. 3. If you read this and continued on in the interview process, then I cannot help you. However, if you have the esteemed privilege of receiving an offer, just know you will likely be bait-and-switched with a lower title and/or compensation than what was originally discussed. I should also note that all of this mistreatment is not offset by above-market comp. Quite the opposite, actually. You also receive a mere 15 days of PTO (need to WFH for a day? they’ll tell you to take PTO). They will overpromise and underdeliver on bonuses, saying “next year will be better” to no avail. 4. As of this writing (August 2023) the firm has 16 employees. TEN people have left the firm in the last 12 months, with more departures to come. The proof is in the pudding. If you have done any bit of research on the company in your interview process, you will come across articles making i80 appear like a legitimate, institutional fund. It’s all smoke and mirrors. It is a sweat shop where the CEO thrives on belittling his employees to appease his immense feelings of inferiority. All that said, I’m still grateful for my experience at i80 because it showed me how to better diligence a prospective employer. It also showed me exactly how not to run a business. I feel better equipped to be a manager now that I have met the antithesis of one in Marc Helwani. I have met really amazing colleagues who were also duped to join i80, but fortunately we all got out and moved on to greener pastures. I wish I had this knowledge prior to joining, so I hope candidates feel better equipped to make the right decision now.
