A Company Built on Secrets and Lies - Anonymous employee BERG Employee Review

1.0
5 Apr 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I liked my coworkers in the laboratory. They hired some talented scientists.

Cons

The management here is a fan of over-promising and under delivering. The benefits were the worst I've seen in Massachusetts which they tried to sell to us by saying it was based on the standards in Nashville where the deep pocketed backer is based. The science was shaky at best. Management was out of touch with the science and with reality. Management was highly dramatic and would pull people out of the lab in dramatic fashion to have an urgent meeting about some rumor they heard, often asking us all point blank and in front of our colleagues if we agreed with the sentiments behind the rumor (sentiments which were largely malcontent and dissatisfaction). It felt like working for a used car salesman. The "sales pitch" for the company is impassioned and moving, but its all a front. I honestly don't believe that management cares at all about their employees or the patients. During my tenure and beyond they have experienced an incredibly high turnover rate. The only reason people stayed was largely because they over-promote people to positions they aren't qualified for and couldn't match elsewhere. Do not buy into those promises. They also pay far less than comparable sized biotech in the area.

Explore other reviews about BERG

5.0
5 Jun 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people Fun projects Freedom to pursue new initiatives and ideas

Cons

Macro shocks can impact pipeline of deals and opportunities.

4.0
23 Mar 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Berg is actively striving to create and maintain a good, healthy, family-friendly corporate culture. I believe this goal is genuine. There are many opportunities for fun, employee interaction, like summer outings, frequent potlucks and things like chili contests and birthday and Diwali celebrations. I think the particular AI-driven niche the company has carved out and is leading with is a good strategy. There are good, highly driven people here working toward admirable, well-thought-out goals in oncology and neurology.

Cons

There are some growing pains and stresses in the company as we grow from a small, rather insulated start-up to a solid, mid-size company with multiple outside collaborators and more diverse funding. Sometimes management does not give sufficient weight or demonstrate sufficient concern -in my opinion- to the complaints and frustrations of the lab personnel who do the bulk of the actual scientific work at Berg. There remain some aspects of the daily workflow here which may not yet be up to the standards of some of the larger, more established companies- such as rather informal, non-electronic notebook keeping, sometimes somewhat cramped desk/seating conditions and some lab equipment and software which could use updating- however, I stress that we are still quite capable of producing good, rigorous work here.

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