True letdown - Anonymous employee Zendo Employee Review

The office Segway comes in handy when you need to zip around the office and blow off steam or dash a few blocks away to run an errand. There's an XBOX that was purchased for Bring Your Kid to Work Day and comes in handy for some R&R or when kids are in the office. There's almost always alcohol in one of the two kitchen fridges. When beer doesn't cut it, there's unlimited coffee, bottled water and soda. Dogs, as long as they're nice, are welcomed and contribute to the great atmosphere. There's a drum kit setup to play or enjoy someone else playing. Zendo is passionate about their employees and taking care of us. It's great that they cut the fat and let go of the grumpy cats.

It's a con that all workplaces have. Sometimes you get a couple of bad apples and they start to spoil the bunch. Fortunately, those people are no longer with us. The building security are a couple of jerks.

Office space is in a great location. Management team respects and tries to support work and life balance, though expect to see double standards based on your tenure with the executive team. I've even seen one employee bring their dog to work. The company lures in unsuspecting new employees with competitive pay and benefits and the tag line of startup environment (they offer no equity). There used to be regular happy hours last year but since mid 2015, there hasn't been an official company sponsored happy hour or company outing.

Where are the products? Pioneers versus late arrivals. For a company who has spent over two years and $$million dollars in funding, they have nothing to show for it. Zendo markets its eventual products as cutting edge Smart Home innovation. But the truth is, one can easily find existing products already available in the marketplace, at retailers such as Apple, Home Depot, Best Buy, and from any of the major home security providers such as ADT, ADC and even AT&T! Where is Zendo's competitive advantage? Two years ago, at business conception, Zendo could have been a pioneer in Home Automation space, now, if and when they launch, they will just be another late market entrant in an already overcrowded space.