- No vision or real plan from leadership (C-suite and VPs) except to spin up teams, go after unnecessary fires, and make the wrong bets. All hands are just internal PR to make it seems like there's a plan and that things are going well, but it's all a facade. Got to give credit to a couple of them for being so well media-trained.
- VPs just do what they're told and have no spine to push back when necessary. It's do or die.
- Brand product and messaging decisions are rarely about what customers are actually looking for, but what leadership likes (and even then they are indecisive, so teams scramble last minute on almost every project). C-suite make decisions even about color and copy bottlenecking every team. It's not "what do you think audiences or customers want?" it's "what does C-suite like?" This communicates a lack of trust and breeds a culture of micromanaging. Even with all this micromanaging, C-suite and VPs continue to make the wrong bets — time and time again.
- Remote means working around the clock, not being able to work from anywhere. Even if you did travel and work remotely, it's not worth it when you are chained to your computer for 9 straight hours and then some. Expect Slacks at 11pm.
- On marketing, a boys club is widely observed, favoritism for Austin-based talent (even though the company is fully remote), and making up ideas for the sake of them without regard for cross-functional goals or prioritization. It's all to make the CMO happy. No one is able to make good, impactful work because of this. Even big moments get drowned out by their own noise. Lots of patting themselves on the back and giving each other high-fives.
- Thanks to AG1, I now have corporate PTSD for the worst work environment I've been a part of. I thought other jobs were tough, but I found myself romanticizing them because of how awful AG1 was/is.
- HR asks you to write a positive Glassdoor review within the first week of onboarding so... review carefully.
