A risky venture. - Anonymous employee Synthetic Genomics Employee Review

I worked as an intern and enjoyed the collaborative environment

No cons to report here

A company founded by someone with a great vision who brought some of the world's best talent in to run it when it was originally conceived. It is located in a beautiful location and by and large is quite a flexible place to work with opportunities to learn about a wide variety of science, business, management and operations skills if one is so inclined. Fortunately, some of the original talent has stayed on board and they serve as scientific leaders in a field with a potentially enormous upside.

There is a very steep hierarchy and most of the new senior management is relatively detached from the operational aspects of the company. This causes a disconnect between the vision/strategy and real work (boots on the ground) which can often manifest as ineffective communication, poor motivation and low morale. The steep hierarchy also leads to a highly political climate where employee recognition and feedback is often overlooked until something breaks.