Absolutely horrid - Recensione dipendente - Software Developer presso Invoke

1,0
17 mag 2014
Consiglia
Gradimento del CEO
Pronostico commerciale

Vantaggi

The biggest pro of working at Invoke Labs is the (awesome) wall mural. There are a few pretty good people, but it's certainly not indicative of the company as a whole. Waffles...see below. I had great expectations for both my work there, and for the company, but I was greatly disappointed.

Svantaggi

Very low salaries - They like saying people who choose to work at Invoke Labs are people that are "passionate" and "truly motivated". Well let me tell you something; many people in plenty of companies around the world are passionate and motivated in the job they're in without being under-compensated in comparison to the local job market. If you're speaking with a company and they constantly use these words to wave you over compensation discrepancies, take heed. The salaries at Invoke Labs are truly below market. Very high turnaround - Consider this. The 4~5 person team I was on had 4 different developers (in 1 position) over the span of 10 months. From my time there, this type of thing wasn't just happening on my team. Emails that go like "Effective immediately, ______ _______ will no longer be working here." are a common sight. Out of the people that were there while I was, over half are not there anymore, including the (at the time) newly appointed CEO. Poor management - There are people there in managerial type roles who are clearly not fit to be in those roles. The type of person who has little understanding of engineering challenges and generates more drama, than they generate good will. Worst of all, the type of person who shifts blame onto other team members and flat out lies to the rest of the company in an effort to not look bad. About waffles - it seems to be the case that basically everyone in this company that is involved in recruiting uses "Waffle Friday" constantly. Which should make you think: if the biggest sell a company can make to you is weekly waffles, and passionate, motivated people (in exchange for low salary), you should be wondering what is missing. Cliquey - As has been mentioned by pretty much everyone who has worked there, there are cliques. This is not a natural extension of having small teams. These cliques will determine your success/advancement at Invoke Labs, be it advancement, perceived performance, rumours, etc. If you choose to work at Invoke Labs, I suggest you identify the cliques immediately and find a way to get on their good side. Work/life balance - Related to the point above, if you mix well with the cliques that matter, your work/life balance will be good. Otherwise, be prepared to have your motivation, passion, and dedication to the company questioned by key members of the clique; and as a result, painting you in a very negative light. Suddenly, good work that you've done will be irrelevant, the hours you put in will not be enough, something you were praised for just yesterday will become a fault, and anything you do will be futile. Since teams are small and most people outside your team will know nothing, whatever the clique claims will be fact. Stock options/bonuses - Again, everyone else's perception of you is largely controlled by the clique, including your perceived performance. It'll either make your time at Invoke Labs laid back and enjoyable, or miserable. Stock options are also one of the big points Invoke Labs recruiters try to sell you on, but when I was there, options were really only something to help lure you on-board. Once you're in, there will be next to no mention of options, and will be waved off as "we're working on the details" if you bring it up. This may have changed since I quit, but from my understanding, stock options are "still in the works" even till now.

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Risposta di Invoke
11y
Thank you for sharing your open and frank point of view. While I am disappointed you chose to post this feedback anonymously online, rather than discussing with me (or one of the senior team) directly, I do appreciate that our difference of opinions is an opportunity for discussion. To clarify, we actively seek out feedback from every member of our team. Team members that leave, for any reason, are invited to participate in an exit interview. I'd like to invite you in for a follow up conversation to discuss your concerns if you felt you were not heard during that discussion. To understand staff turnover at Invoke Labs, it’s important to also understand our model. We actively encourage the startups we work with to hire our team. We wrote a blog post about this back in March. Those who choose to work at Invoke Labs have a chance to work with some of the most exciting startups in Vancouver, and eventually join one of those teams full time. We reward persistence, leaning in hard, and collaboration when helping to shape the startups we work alongside of. We encourage learning from failure, and embrace an ethos of doing it better at every new opportunity that is presented to us. Iteration is paramount. And our team grows stronger with the hard knocks. This is probably one of the reasons why it's so tough when we make a decision to let someone go. We treat it as an absolute last resort, and take care to explain the reasons to any affected team members. People join Invoke Labs with high hopes and good intent. I am constantly impressed with the level of talent and experience that we have on the Invoke Labs team. Those that demonstrate commitment and dedication to nurturing and growing the startups that we work with, will find Invoke Labs a rewarding and fulfilling environment, one that I am incredibly proud of.

Esplora altre recensioni su Invoke

3,0
19 gen 2018
Dipendente anonimo
Consiglia
Gradimento del CEO
Pronostico commerciale

Vantaggi

Some good company perks like annual trip to Disney.

Svantaggi

Lots of layoffs & constant changing over management & leadership teams.

3
5,0
24 lug 2025
Consiglia
Gradimento del CEO
Pronostico commerciale

Vantaggi

A friendly, dynamic team that offers excellent opportunities for learning and growth.

Svantaggi

The compensation isn’t particularly high.

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