Run, don’t walk, away from here - Creative Manager Pentatonic Employee Review

There is some good people who are stuck working here unfortunately

This was by far the most difficult and mentally deteriorating workplace I have ever been part of. The culture was extremely negative and, at times, deeply uncomfortable. Behaviour from management frequently crossed the line into what many would consider inappropriate and bullying was the norm. It created an environment where people felt constantly on edge. I personally, and other colleagues often dreaded the work day because you never knew what kind of treatment or confrontation you might face. There was virtually no psychological safety, and instead of offer feedback you would be berated. This behaviour often came from those managers who showed a clear lack of competence in their own role so often put the blame on others. This combination of poor leadership and lack of accountability was incredibly demoralising for the team. Strategically, the company also lacked direction. Product positioning, ICP, and target markets seemed to shift constantly. New “big ideas” would appear almost weekly, often centred around “vibe-coded” concepts that were presented as enterprise-ready products. This showed a significant disconnect from the real complexity involved in building software that large organisations can actually implement and deploy. Another concerning issue was the lack of independence in people and culture functions. The entire HR team is directly related to the founders, which raises obvious concerns around impartiality and employees’ ability to raise concerns safely or expect fair resolution. Overall, my experience and many of my colleagues who have departed or are still there have been extremely negative.

The leadership and technical management team share a really big passion for tech, They are well versed in what they are talking about and I enjoyed my talks with the management at the company. They seem ambitious and they synergize with people that are also ambitious people. If you are an adaptable person you will do well in this industry and at this company.

I come from a long line of start-ups so my vision might be skewed a bit on what's right in a workplace setting. The occasional hard deadlines and long hours is kind of what I expect. This is far from the worst start up I've worked for, When in this type of industry expect that the focus may shift unexpectedly and most of your hard work will go down the drain for a new project in a new direction. I don't think this company is for people that want their job laid out step by step , but then again; no start-up is...