Real Reviews

Pros

The job pays well at least. The engineers I work with are top notch. The benefits are alright, but nothing to write home about.

Cons

Management has no clue how to run a business. Everything is based on gut instincts instead of metrics. Middle management is a bunch of yes men. I've worked here for two years and have had four different managers and five different vice presidents. There's no clear product visions. Products are rushed to market without thinking about customer experience. The stock performance is terrible and a clear indication that the CEO is more focused on micromanaging his staff instead of driving stockholder equity.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop the wasteful spending and top down management. Stand up to the CEO because more often than not, he's wrong.

Pros

At its core, Real is a music company and pretty tolerant of all that goes with that. A lot of the employees are nice and a lot of them are covered with tattoos or weird piercings.

Cons

Product quality sucks. Absolutely sucks. Very little discernible direction to anything. The company and their technology reeks "has been." A number of the top managers are narcissists and just not very bright. It's not fun working for them.

Advice to Senior Management

If you're going to hire a senior manager and pay him a pile of money, at least insist on getting someone with some working brains.

Pros

There are many great people in the trenches who are eminently capable of executing on strategy. The company has a history of developing or acquiring (in the case of Rhapsody and Gamehouse) interesting products and the company is in an interesting space. Perplexingly, the company offers great training programs for employee development, but does an extremely poor job of engaging employees in their new skillsets.

Cons

From RobG on down, the senior leadership clearly does not respect the line managers or individual contributors at the company. The executive leadership is incapable of formulating and sticking with a coherent business or product strategy. company always reacts predictably when times get tough, with everyone but the execs suffering from poor decisions. execs too focused on hitting homers and miss the value of consistent simple performance.

Advice to Senior Management

get counseling.

Pros

Medium-sized tech company with a known name and stable financial situation.

Cons

Vertical orientation - no syngery between groups.
Internal tools are a mishmash of technologies. The only thing in common is that they are not from Microsoft.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate about what's going on with the company. Where is it going? Who's the competition? How are we doing against the competition?

Pros

Nice vacation plan if you can manage to take time off. Smart employees. Some upper management are good leaders who are trying to steer the company in the right direction, but there seem to be quite a few people in their way which makes change difficult.

Cons

All the different businesses within Real are slightly intertwined, but these connections are not well managed which makes for a bit of a mess.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate more, offer more transparency--with so many smart people working there, there are bound to be some good ideas on how to run a tighter ship.

Pros

Environment is fairly relaxed. Good probability you'll have your own office. Compensation seems fair. Onsite gym is okay, free soda, free Rhapsody/SuperPass, atrium common area is nice. Onsite cafeteria can be hit or miss, but is extremely convenient. Real goes all out on Halloween, which is pretty cool.

Cons

Constant re-orgs, minimal communication between senior management and employees, minimal communication between business units. I'd say poor communication overall, which makes for a fairly active rumor mill. Some departments are marginalized and have been picked clean during layoffs, but are expected to maintain same level of productivity. HR seems detached and ineffective.

Advice to Senior Management

Need a unified mission for all business units, shut down infighting within and between departments. Centralized marketing so we're all on the same page.

Pros

The is a great deal of freedom in work style and choice of technology. The company supports professional development but, it's up to the individual to have enough drive to pursue it.

Cons

The business seems somewhat dysfunctional. Management doesn't seem to have a plan.

Advice to Senior Management

Develop a real business plan.

Pros

Smart and interesting people work at Real - great talent. The office is in a nice location. Generally, there is a pretty decent work/life balance.

Cons

The products created are increasingly irrelevant, and Real is in danger of completely fading away. Money is spent inconsistently, and in the wrong places. The rotating cast of executives can be very disheartening.

Advice to Senior Management

It is frustrating to work at a company where the CEO doesn't trust management to make decisions without him. There is way too much of a bottleneck, and too much emphasis on one man's opinion.

Pros

Real excels in their company culture (the whole liberal lefty attitude is great). They also offer excellent health benefits.

Cons

RNWK Stock Performance is pretty horrible. My strike price is much higher than the current stock price. Real also needs to do away with their outdated business model.

Advice to Senior Management

"Think outside the box"

Pros

I like that they trust their employees. You're allowed to make purchases under $100 for items you need with no approval. For a large company the communication from management is great (compared to other large companies I've worked for.) Opportunity for advancement for people who stick with the company seems high. Some of the fringe benefits are fun like the bowling alley and the gym. Stock plans are generous, assuming the stock does something one of these days. Company seems to have enough good things going on I'm not worried about its longevity.

Cons

Benefits are pricier than other tech companies in the area (though the benefits are good.)

Advice to Senior Management

Make benefits cheaper to compare with other tech companies in the area.