Affymetrix Reviews

Pros

1. nice people
2. good management
3. vacation 4 weeks per yr

Cons

1. salary no increase for three yrs
2. no 401k
3. no sick day

Advice to Senior Management

too many VP

Pros

Getting connections to customer
Average salary

Cons

Managers are good/fine Senior Managers are horrible

Advice to Senior Management

Dont acquire what you cant sell/support as wellas or better than the chip business.

Pros

Leading edge technology and R&D projects. If you are a scientist or researcher, this is one of the places to be. Exciting and challenging projects. Great support on publishing papers in leading journals and in generating patents. Numerous internal seminars and presentations about new applications and technologies. Good compensation and benefits.

Cons

If you are a scientist or researcher, this is one of the places to be - if you are not, you sometimes get treated like a second class employee. Company structure is top heavy. There are a few groups who have 90% VPs, Directors and Managers. There are people who think or act as though Affymetrix is an 'Ivory Tower'.

Advice to Senior Management

Reduce the petty politics and kingdom building. Focus on the fact that Affymetrix is a 'for profit' corporation. Remember that scientists are great for generating new ideas but usually poor decision makers for management or business.

Pros

Affy really has a fantastic technology, and some of the people developing it are the best and brightest people with whom you will ever work.

Cons

The management at Affy always felt that profitability was a side effect of doing the most cutting edge science. As a result, strategy was driven by a small customer pool of leading edge scientists, instead of understanding the complete market.

Additionally, the strength of the IP, led the company to assume a serious competitor would not emerge. Though it's MBA 101 that if you create a lucrative market, others will invade the space. It was only a matter of time before some company (Illumina) figured out a technology that could meet the same customer needs as the GeneChip.

Advice to Senior Management

It's about the profitability!

Pros

Affymetrix is a highly innovative company, with a high IQ per square foot. Affymetrix' immediate impact on biotech research and leadership in genetic bases of personal medicine is a good reason to be there.
Affy is a rarity in biotech - a self made startup that has become an innovation leader
The company is profitable and has strong prospects for the future (see below).

Cons

The company is in many ways still a small company that grew up. Many production processes are ad hoc and communication internally is also improvised. The company is moving on this.
Affy is also working on a strategy to deal with new competition and that has created some uncertainty in the future, which can and has led to layoffs in the past. Most of its strategic moves have been successes but usually involve missteps along the way that have cost us some reputation as leaders.

Advice to Senior Management

Product development is not strongly disciplined and its relationship to marketing is not coordinated.

Pros

Great technology. Do something good for the world. Many of the people are fun and driven individuals. Company has potential for turning around. Diagnostic market is exciting and could bring long term prosperity.

Cons

Poor management decision making. Infighting between departments. Politicized atmosphere. Promotions more a matter of who you know, not what you bring to the table.

Advice to Senior Management

Weed out middle managers who are hurting the company. Put more emphasis on product development, marketing, and manufacturing operations. Subcontracting/outsourcing manufacturing does not work for low volume, high complexity, and regulated environments. Stop promoting finance specialists to lead operations.