The company is run by two brothers (CEO and CFO) whose leadership has been, to put it plainly, terrible. Company direction shifts on a monthly basis, with no clear or consistent strategy for how Gradle stays relevant in an evolving market. When initiatives inevitably fail as a result of this instability, leadership has a pattern of scapegoating employees (and firing them) rather than reflecting on their own decision-making. While the CEO is at least a decent human to work with, the CFO regularly shouts at employees in meetings without giving them any chance to explain the why. He created a work environment full of stress and fear, with everyone waiting to see who would be attacked next.
Micromanagement is also serious problem, particularly from leaders who lack hands-on expertise in the areas they're overseeing. They demand fast shipping while simultaneously inserting themselves into processes in ways that create bottlenecks and slow teams down — a frustrating contradiction that erodes morale and productivity.
Most troubling is the treatment of employees. Throughout my tenure, high-performing team members were let go without warning. Laying off employees in small groups of two or three felt like some weird strategy to trim costs, even though the company was not in financial distress. These decisions were shortsighted: losing strong contributors quietly and repeatedly destabilizes teams and destroys trust over time. I can't think of one person on my larger team who didn't voice confusion and anxiety about their job security.
And every new person who joined the team during my tenure was shocked at the reality of it was like to work there. I felt genuinely guilty for not sharing the truth about the company during interviews. My advice should have been: Don't work here!
The final kicker for me, when being laid off along with the entirety of the marketing team, was being only offered three weeks of severance (for signing the separation agreement) after three years of employment. By Bay Area technology company standards, this offer was laughable. As made clear by this review, I chose not to sign.
