Good on paper bad on execution - Recensione dipendente - Dipendente anonimo presso Cozero (Germany)

- Great and grounded mission to have a positive impact on climate change by helping other companies drive climate actions - Diverse, friendly and motivated team that pushes for innovative solutions within the complex universe of emissions data and calculations - Real remote and in-person culture. Remote collaboration works seamlessly and with flexibility, complemented by a nice office and good casual lunches that help us connect with the team.

- Carbon accounting is an uncertain space, and that brings a lot of complexity to the product development and decisions. - It's a small team that requires us to jump into different roles every day and to manage a lot of context switching.

I worked at Cozero for a year, and like many others, it only took me a few months to realize the significant mistake I had made. The tool itself and most of the team are genuinely amazing. In fact, it was the people I worked with who made it so hard for me to say goodbye despite the difficult circumstances. Cozero has done an excellent job in both hiring great talent and creating a remarkable product.

However, they have failed catastrophically in how they treat their employees and in retaining them. The average tenure at the company seems to be around a year. While the founders attribute this to generational trends, this explanation doesn’t hold up. Other startups, even within the same industry, manage to retain employees from this so-called "generation" for three years or more. The core issue at Cozero lies with the two main founders. While they might come across as kind and approachable on the surface, my experience and that of many others was quite the opposite. They treat employees poorly, often through passive-aggressive behavior, micromanagement, and constant criticism. Many people I spoke to left feeling devalued and manipulated. The leadership style is toxic: they are unwilling to delegate even minor decisions, refuse to take any form of feedback, and create an environment that leads to burnout. Their inability to empower their team or trust others to take the lead has left a trail of demoralized employees. Looking back, working at Cozero was the biggest mistake of my career. While the product and the team are exceptional, the toxic leadership makes it a place where good people can’t thrive.