Hotwire Reviews

Pros

nice location if you like the city.
non confrontational environment.
family friendly if you want to have kids
clean office.

Cons

so boring
very tedious
very process oriented,
stifling environment, a "just do as your told" type attitude
rigid inflexible managers.

Advice to Senior Management

allow more innovation and new ideas. Don't be so rigid with respect to process. And you are in an industry that is becoming more commoditized.

Pros

Work life balance is good for the most part. Good vacation and extra bonus holidays sprinkled in there. The office is clean and the location is nice. If you are in the clique you can get some nice stock and bonus. At least that is what I hear....

Cons

Over time Hotwire has gotten more corporate and the culture has gotten very unfair in its promotions and transparency. Hotwire was my first 'non startup' job besides a small consulting job at a bank, and I came her to see what a mid sized company was like. Unfortunately the politics and policies are worse then at the bank I previously worked for. Here are some of the unfair things:

Promotions - A lot of the promotions are based on tenure and not productivity. Because of this some real rock stars have left over the last year or two

Transparency - Hotwire always talks about transparency. However this past review cycle (fall of 2010) a number of promotions were given and this was never communicated to the company. A number of these promotions are dubious as best and still have never been communicated.

Deadweight - There is a lot of deadweight here. Sadly these people keep moving up the ladder and create a self fulfilling prophecy of more deadweight.

Pay - The pay is below industry standard. Thus we lose the good people to other jobs. When startups are giving better salary/benefits these days something is wrong...

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of the dead weight. There are so many people making 0 or negative contribution here. Let them go. When the vp of product leaves later this year hire externally and bring somebody to shake things up. The same with other big positions. Make people accountable.

LAYOFF - Use any 'bad market' period of time to lay off the slackers and reward those who do not work hard.

Remember you will never get anywhere when the good leave and the weak stay.

Pros

work/life balance. smart people. great benefits

Cons

small companies offer less career growth opportunities. pay is a bit below market.

Advice to Senior Management

find ways to retain strong performers

Pros

- the office is clean and orderly
- most people are not social so they do not annoy you much
- you can get a nice view of coitus tower or china town depending on where you sit
- they have free honest tea
- you can yelp, facebook, myspace, etc almost all day and still get your work done
- I have a boatload of stock and options that are keeping me here.
- clem is a really good guy.

Cons

- so boring, all you think about is your life withering away
- so many brainwashed middle-types who are afraid to do anything
- so much fear in changing an ounce of anything, let alone a pound
- in the years I have been here more good leave and the slackers stay
- older employees who have been here have awesome pto policy, thus they stay
- they very rarely fire anybody
- in my dept nobody works remotely while in others they do freely

The other day I saw a hotwire ad on tv and it did not even register that I worked there. That is how disconnected I realized I was with this place. You go into the office and suddenly a dark cloud of depression hits you. then as you leave the veil of depression is gone. i am not expecting it to be like a wild 2000 startup where people are all partying and making out with each other but working at a 200 person company that moves at ibm speed leaves something to be desired. If it were not for a variety of stock option and rsu grants that I got I would never be staying at this place.

Advice to Senior Management

make it fun before every damn good employee leaves. they are going right from under you.

another option. fire half the company. do not add any new feature to the site for 1 years and see how things are. chances are you will have made the same money and spent half the salary.

quit being so pollyanish about stuff.

quit being so afraid to tie your own shoe!

Pros

- Convenient location, food is close by depending on taste
- Office is well lit, fridge is stocked with drinks
- Stable environment in terms of workload, not many employees sitting around past 7pm

Cons

- Can't keep up with what's going on outside it's environment
- The business can get old really fast due to low innovation
- Managers don't take subordinates seriously enough about the business

Advice to Senior Management

Start listening, not just to managers but lower employees. All employees are your eyes and ears to the business world. They see things you might not.

Pros

- It is a job
- It pays ok
- The environment is clean
- Most people do not smell
- Its in the city
- People are in general nice even though they are clique-like
- If you have a baby they take good care of you
- It is easy to slack and get by in many departments
- It is very rare they fire people

Cons

This place is the epitome of boring and conservative, almost to the point of being bank like. If you dare do anything that is even remotely boat rocking you will be burned at the rebel. They people that have lasted a long time here really do not rock the boat at all. After a while here I could not take the munde-ness anymore and had to leave dodge. It was mind boggling the number of meetings to discuss doing the smallest task. No dept ever wants to own something. Ten people in a room to discuss something that takes 1 hour to do. And nobody in upper managements has the cajones to do anything about it. 25% of the employees here do probably 90% of the work. So many people sit on their tail and surf the web, talk about cars, computers etc. There are at least 3 people in the office I have witnessed farting in public. The fun days of the in and out trucks and happy hours are gone. Its a 9 -5er for many. Some a 10-4er.

Advice to Senior Management

Get your collective heads out of the sand. Actually grow some and fire the dead weight and hire some real cream of the crop. For every 2 slackers you could fire you could hire 1 stellar person at a competitive salary. Hold people accountable for doing bad work instead of promoting them.

Pros

The place is crawling with brainiacs. They may be quiet; they may have their heads down but they're seriously smart. And not just the "new" employees. "Old Timers" didn't get that way from being sub-par performers. It's fun (for me, at least) to know I work with people who could indeed answer all the "impossible" interview questions but don't come off as Mensa nimrods. Just doin' the job, doing it well and having fun while doing it.

Cons

I don't want to be a complete Pollyanna, but if one must work, one might as well do it at a place like Hotwire. Like any workplace, a single day can be ruined by an absent-minded co-worker or a tough deadline but, all in all, I think people feel valued and genuinely proud of their company.

Advice to Senior Management

Ummmm....it would be a mistake to say something bad about management, or senior management. Not because I'm afraid (although I do get nervous around Mr. Bason!) but because, from where I sit, things are going well. Really well.

Pros

Lively, there's always something new to learn every day.
The senior management really tries to keep the employees happy and they've been doing a great job.
In general, people are friendly, helpful and smart.

Cons

Some departments are good in keeping only the productive employees. Some other departments are doing very poor job on that aspect, so some people are not taking their jobs seriously, using most of their time at work to do personal stuff, even doing their other/side job.

Advice to Senior Management

Remove the dead head and pain point people that have been getting out of control. Just like flowers, this will encourage the company to produce new blooms. There are many people out there that are willing to replace them and can do a better job.

Pros

Exciting industry (travel), smart employees, great work-life balance, good location, solid technology, solid products and business model, good processes, opportunities to learn and try new things, fun company events, discounts on travel products

Cons

Technology is somewhat behind the times, lacks the energy of a startup (but there are significant pros to this as well, such as work-life balance), no extravagant events (the company is cost-concious like our customers)

Advice to Senior Management

I think we can take on even bigger challenges. Let's aggressively search for something big or risky, while still doing our core business well.

Pros

Unbelievable travel discounts to start. I've been able to take more trips, for far less money, and really have the work/life balance that I've always wanted in a job, but never had. Hotwire is a very casual place to work in regards to dress code and hours (9-5 most days). I feel comfortable in jeans and tennis shoes everyday. The president is fun/funny/approachable/down to earth/smart/realistic. Everyone around me is extremely smart and talented, which makes for an inspiring work environment. But in the same breath, everyone likes to have a good time. There are ALWAYS events and parties within the company, so you get to know your coworkers well. Hotwire recognizes talent and supports internal growth as much as possible. So great benefits, travel discounts, internal growth opportunities, and a casual/fun environment. Not to mention, we're still hiring, which is a great sign. It's truly the best company I've ever worked for.

Cons

I can't think of a lot of downsides to working at Hotwire. If I have to give one, I would say that they do the most work with the least amount of resources possible. But I don't really see that as a downside, but more about just being efficient.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide as much training and guidance for non-management employees to succeed and grow within the company. Make sure the employees are always challenged and growing as individuals.