Hillcrest Labs Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Hillcrest Labs

Pros – There are a ton of incredibly smart and talented engineers that work at Hillcrest Labs. They are doing some very challenging and interesting work. They are constantly challenging their peers and coworkers. The products being developed have a ton of potential.

Cons – Limited benefits, vacation time, etc. Managers like to work their employees for long hours. Disconnect between executive team and engineering team. Burnout is not infrequent.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay more attention to your engineers. They know the benefits and limitations of your system better than you do and can help you guide it better than the customers, who will ask for impossible things.

Former Employee – worked at Hillcrest Labs

Pros – - Very cool product solution for TVs
- Strong VC backing for the company (though their ongoing participation in future fundings questionable)
- A lot of growth potential

Cons – -Strong senior management, often overlooks feedback from key members of management and engineering teams
- Awesome product vision; however implementation and application to the market questionable and yet to be proven after many years
- At one point the senior management team was very diverse and experienced; over time many of the more accomplished leaders have left and the remaining execs are personal friends with the CEO.
- Are they now / soon-to-be profitable? The burn rate is high given the market opportunity.

Advice to Senior Management – Diversify the management team more; bring in accomplished leaders without as many "personal friends" on senior management team.
Where is the market traction? Which market is Hillcrest going to dominate? The vision is very broad but it's not clear what market this vision will play out in.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hillcrest Labs

Pros – Interesting and different work than is normally found in the DC area. The company has the largest concentration of smart engineers that I've ever worked with. Ego is not an issue, and most people are genuinely nice to be around.

Cons – Tight deadlines and changing priorities. Management tends to take engineering heroics for granted and pushes some people to burn out.

Advice to Senior Management – Please don't call Hillcrest Labs a startup any more. There should be some limit to the number of years that you can call yourself a startup. Six years is a long time to take to graduate.