All the potential but ruined by politics and egos! - Enterprise Account Executive Starburst Employee Review

3.0
7 Aug 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- On paper Starburst has the potential to be a fantastic place to work, high growth, intelligent team and a large TAM. - There is continuous useful and relevant training and the tech and support network to help you be successful. - The wider team has very strong technical knowledge and most of my colleagues have been open to spend time with the sales team to help you learn. - Roles are well paid and benefits are what is expected. - Diversity and feedback is claimed to be valued however I did not experience this and through recent departures and looking around the office of white men, I do question this

Cons

- Very political and ego driven. Many employees in senior positions lack the required experience and it is unclear how they got there as progression steps are very unclear. Further to this there is a lack of accountability in the leadership team and so many changes in direction*. When I asked in a 1:1 about progression and development opportunities I got told I had to start smashing my current role to even discuss this. This was hugely demotivating - I suggest this needs to be ironed out to avoid losing future talent. - *Lots of changes and don't seem to be well thought through; 3 rounds of redundancies in the 10 months I was there and no promise that there will not be more in near future - The continuous training mentioned above is brilliant but there is a fine line between giving the team training so they can excel and implementing processes from training that are so ridgid that the process starts to come before making sales. Think long and hard before making the move to Starburst - Enterprise title but commercial mindset, managers watch what you say, how you say it and inspect recorded calls. Feedback is often not constructive and the sales process is very heavy and very few true opportunities. This has created a negative sales culture where very few people are making a great deal of money and the large majority are having very little success and are frustrated by constant inspection and negative feedback. Sellers here live off the promise of making money from the IPO and the prospect of starting to hit your target 18 months in. Selling at Starburst is VERY hard. I was lied to when hired about the % of AE's that actually ever make quota - dig in hard on this before making a move. - The business claims to embrace open feedback but it is not tolerated and can be discouraged. I voiced my opinions and I got made redundant - be careful what you say here and to who. If you want to join a company where you don't want to watch your back everyday, don't join Starburst. - Little willingness for diversity; the UK team is mostly white and 99% male. I have worked in all male teams before and most likely will again, it is the nature of the industry, but there is a strong "boys club" vibe here. When joining I informally asked a peer why they think women haven't joined the team in the past and got told that it was a hard sell and lots to learn which usually puts women off! This should have been my alarm bells to run! - Paid parental leave does not mean paid parental leave, it means statutory maternity pay in the UK and fully paid paternity for men.

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Starburst Response
2y
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback about your experience at Starburst. We appreciate your insights and perspective and I sincerely apologize this was your experience during your time. As pioneers in disrupting a 40+ year old industry, we understand that forging a new path often involves a process of trial and error. Every day we are focused on finding repeatable outcomes that will drive not only company success but AE success as well. Given the complexity, we ask new hires to join with an open mind as Selling at Starburst is unlike any experience you may have had previously, thus we have a strong culture around coaching. While we are still early in this process, I’m sorry this has been your experience. When it comes to diversity, we believe diverse perspectives enhance our team and company. We actively build diverse communities through gender, ethnicity, and age, including initiatives like Womxn at Starburst, Star G.A.L.S (Girls Amplified Loudly in Sales), Starburst Pride, and more. Our leadership reviews diversity metrics, sets internal targets, and ensures fair, unbiased hiring to drive growth. It’s important to us that everyone feels welcome and celebrated at Starburst. Feedback is critical and it's my #1 focus to make our sales team successful. As a company, we always welcome feedback and we absolutely have zero tolerance for retaliation whatsoever. If you would like to discuss your feedback openly with me and how we can improve our GTM function, please send me an email. I'd love to set up a time to discuss with you further ways we can improve. -Javier Molina, CRO

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