Growth Company with an Autonomous Work Environment - Recensione dipendente - Data Scientist presso Builtrix

I started to work here, since the beginning they help me with everything, we had an amazing environment, I felt part of the team, they considered my suggestion to implement new features in the project that makes you feel good, after the pandemic situation in Europe I had support from the company and they were aware of this problem, very flexible job and great integration with the team.

Due pandemic situation we needed to move remotely but anyway was successfully adaptation

Builtrix (formerly Optishower) shows you a great roadmap when you join. Later you realize the truth :(

Well, I started my job as a senior developer in Builtrix (aka Optishower) a year ago. First impression was they were 3 founders having neither experience nor education in Computer Science but wanting to build a great software company. I became the only developer, tech person in the Builtrix. In the first set of meetings we agreed on the tasks and the salary and I started my job. After a month they told me they are so satisfied and want me to be there long term, 5 years or more. They strictly seek my opinion in many occasions if I'm willing to be there for 5 years or more. I answered positive if I continue to like it. At the end of first month they did not pay me on time. They said they are busy preparing my contract and will pay me soon. 20 days later, they paid my first month in cash but still no contract on the table. I started to blame but they assured me that the contract is on the track and will be ready soon and that they pay me in cash until then. I thought to myself ok no problem. Since the paper work normally takes long in Portugal, I wait for contract and receive my salary in cash, ultimately when we sign a contract we mention one or two previous months and payments in the contract. This story continued for the next 5 months. I was working hard without a contract signed. Everyday they would say the contract will be ready tomorrow or the next week. Sigh, all were lies. The worst part was in this 5 month they paid my salary in cash with huge delays like 20 or 30 days each month(TBH, they paid on time, once). Starting from the 6th month they finally brought me the contract. That was a trap again, since they asked me (literally begged) to orally agree on a salary but mention less (70%) in the contract so that Builtrix can save on taxes and social security payments that otherwise they had to pay. In return they pledged to pay the remaining monthly amount in cash and to subscribe my family to a private comprehensive health insurance as a compensation. At this time I was really enjoying my job and the impact I had. So I agreed. The sad point was that they didn't mention the previous 5 months in the contract. Over next months they promoted me to the lead developer(frankly I was leading myself only) but the late payments were still in place. Moreover, I started to notice that part of my salary comes from compensation for business trips I never went(a trick to deceive IRS). They also wouldn't give my payslips so that I have an idea what's the structure of the salary I receive in my account. Only a month after I left the company they sent me my previous payslips. As of today Builtrix has not paid part of my salary for last 4 months I worked, together with the whole salary of the last month. From technical standpoint, lately I noticed that they don't really value technology and product. A huge amount of time and energy in Builtrix is spent on applying to EU fund programs for startups (i.e. EU Horizon 2020 funds). They also spend a lot of time pitching their ideas to private investors. What Builtrix needs in applying to fund programs and pitches in front of investors, is just a superficial level of technology. Builtrix says they bring analytics and savings to the buildings. However what they asked me to develop was just a frontend dashboard that is connected to a random generator. They abandoned all the backend, sensor network and gateway projects I proposed and just focused on writing proposals for funds and pitches in front of investors, all containing the fancy screenshots of a fake dashboard showing live data from an imaginary building. Obviously I don't recommend working in Builtrix (aka Optishower) to anyone unless they see a real change in the situation I explained above.