Motley Fool Reviews

Pros

fun atmosphere, people, and work environment

Cons

Not many negatives really. It's a great place to work.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't try to grow too fast...

Pros

the easy things to describe are unlimited paid time off (provided you get your work done), flexible work arrangements, practically free health insurance, no dress code (shorts and flip flops OK), the game rooms, the free food and company sponsored events (completely optional) . the things I value the most are the collaborative work environment, the respect and autonomy afforded to me as an employee, the everyday access to leadership and the total lack of corporate nonsense.

Cons

I know I could get paid more elsewhere. Also since this is a fairly flat organization, lateral moves are common (new projects, new skills, new responsibilities), but there aren't many existing paths to move 'up' (opportunities to manage people).

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it small. There are plans to move into new areas which will require an increase in the number of employees. While the new opportunities are exciting, I believe there is a maximum size an organization can get to before it becomes 'corporate'. Even though I trust it will be done Foolishly, I worry that it will qualitatively change what it is like to work here.

Pros

You get to work with some of the brightest and most knowledgeable people around in an environment that encourages sharing and openness. It is literally impossible not to learn something new every day, and if you put real effort into it, the amount you can learn and grow is limitless. Dress is casual, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the pursuit of excellence fills the air.

Cons

If you want your own office, or the aspiration of your own office, that's not going to fly here. The open-room feel might make reading or concentration seem difficult, but donning some headphones or grabbing yourself a conference room for some quieter time is never an issue.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it up.

Pros

Motley fool can be a great company to work for. they staff is nice and helpful and editors are quick in turning around your completed work papers.

Cons

The one downside to the job i did was that it was online mostly and the metrics drove the job. If you no make metrics then no more job.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management is very nice and sweet. they play fun games with employees. we like it alot and handball fund also

Pros

People here are hard working and very smart. Having fun is definitely encouraged, and there is a good sense of camaraderie around the office. Lots of ability to take classes and learn about the business.

Cons

It's a small company with low turnover, so it's tough to envision a clear career path. They are working on this though.

Advice to Senior Management

Great job, you are all so approachable and easy to talk to. There's a downside, as we grow, you are getting spread too thin as you become over committed and less accessible. Might be a sign to start delegating more decisions to the people who report to you to help them grow as well.

Pros

Mission driven company. Entrepreneurial with fiscal discipline.

Cons

Struggles with balance between ideals and marketing strategy.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it up.

Pros

Great people to work with. Everyone's enthusiastic and interested. The company does its work on the front-end: hiring passionate people, so that it doesn't need to micromanage once they're hired. Lots of freedom.

Cons

Current marketing push may be a bit strong. Needs to be able to show an ability to return to the values that created the Motley Fool.

Advice to Senior Management

Find balance between revenue generation and long-term value creation in the minds of your subscribers. Focus on what matters in the long-run.

Pros

Our firm authentically cares about mastering the craft of investing and serving its customers so that they can make more money and learn with us.

Cons

There are so many natural extensions of our business that we have to resist a tendency to try to attack too many opportunities all at once.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep focusing on developing your people and getting them in the right jobs with increasingly exciting challenges. You have a special team.

Pros

Every day at 3:00 Fools take recess, which is a hour long break to go outside. We have pizza day and cake day every month.

Cons

With all the focus on how much fun everyone is having, there's not enough emphasis put on the actual business.

Advice to Senior Management

Find the balance between our culture and the business. Both are important and one cannot exist without the other one.

Pros

Good pay, supportive management, and most of all, contribute to a service that gives so much to individual investors. This is where I learned how to invest, and now I'm teaching others.

Cons

I'm a contractor, like most of the writers. That means no benefits (and the Fool benefits are awesome if you qualify) and I've got incentives to kill myself for a higher volume of output. Work/life balance becomes a problem.

Advice to Senior Management

Consider hiring a few of us poor contract writers, dudes. Maybe under some sort of partial benefits structure, if the full deal is too expensive. We're creating value for the company, and shouldn't be pushed to work ourselves to death doing it. Some upward mobility without moving to Alexandria would be cool, too.