Symless Reviews

4.4

81% would recommend to a friend

(13 total reviews)

Nick Bolton

79% approve of CEO

78% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

13 reviews
5.0
14 Jan 2016

Awesome company

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great working environment. The whole team is like a second family. The best work/life balance. Courses to learn new technologies or other skills are provided. Flexible working hours. There are drinks, a professional coffee machine, crisps and sweets in the office =)

Cons

Personally the location of the Camberley office is a handicap for me. I live in Reading and commute every day to Camberley.

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Symless Response
8y
Having a strong work family is important. We're glad you felt like the work/life balance was right, and it's also good to hear that the courses were helpful.
5.0
14 Jan 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly and relaxed working envioroment

Cons

Never enough hours in the day

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Symless Response
8y
Friendly and relaxed are exactly what I strive for at the company. We do our best work when we can relax and think.
2.0
20 Jul 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Was a small company with a jovial atmosphere and a passionate team (8 people as of May 2018). - The company always managed to hire talented people. Everyone there could have been somewhere else earning more, but stayed because they felt like a part of something worthwhile. - Nick (CEO) was always generous and kind to his employees. - Nick (CEO) was once passionate and enthusiastic about what was possible, and it was infectious. - Company was highly profitable. - Product development was fun, challenging and offered variety.

Cons

- Nick (CEO) is just plain fiscally irresponsible, wasting time and money on self-congratulatory crap, like a "museum" for past versions of the product. His private and personal expenditure is disproportionate, which I personally believe lead directly to the redundancy of *all* of the remaining staff after I left (5 in total). Frankly, a highly profitable company was needlessly run in to the ground due to his recklessness. - Nick (CEO), despite hiring good people, never truly took on board their views or advice, individual or collective, frequently becoming tyrannical. - Nick (CEO) lacked the ability to make coherent medium to long-term product ownership decisions, leaving engineers and managers feeling "aimless". It was common to ask questions of managers only to realise they had the same questions themselves. - Nick (CEO) effectively abandoned the company for 6 months, spending *very* little time in the office during an important product development phase. Even his management team couldn't meaningfully reach him. On the day he laid us all off, I was actually pleased to see him walk in to the office. - Despite claiming to value time above all else, Nick (CEO), when present, was often found pedantically, one could argue obsessively, fussing over operational minutia. - Nick (CEO), despite having only a few years of software engineering experience, and only having run a startup consisting of a handful of people, for a handful of years, built around a modest, niche, open-source product (which he inherited), believes he can be the next Steve Jobs. At first this can be seen as pure zeal, but there is a point at which is becomes blinding.

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Symless Response
7y
Thank you for your feedback, we're glad that you could appreciate our passion, generosity, and kindness.
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