What is the feeling of job security at Firstup?

People--for the most part--are cool, super smart, hard-working, and fun to work with; Monthly refresh days

Management is awful--specifically my direct manager was horrendous (and is no longer there); Constant turnover and massive layoffs; Lack of transparency; Unlimited PTO is not really unlimited--that's a full-blown gaslight; Constantly changing targets and company stories; it's an organization that very obviously plays favorites.

Benefits and compensation were strong on initial offer.

Going through a major shift throughout the company after replacing the majority of the C-level team last year, which then turned over senior leadership at those departments. Most of these new execs brought in their own people from other companies, which created a in-group vs out-group culture in teams. Performance review standards change every year, with no feedback in between, making it difficult to plan out your career and what steps you need to take. Turnover and hiring on teams is really difficult. Despite the ARR of the company, teams run incredibly lean, the result of several layoffs post merger from a few years ago. Priorities shift constantly, very difficult to work on long term problems when most teams direct work towards short term rewards. Communication is not great within teams and across teams either. Internal adoption of our own platform is low, and information isn't in centralized places. Lots of talk about our employee NPS scores but no action taken to try and improve them.

I had a wide range of responsibilities and learning opportunities.

Leadership is extremely poor from the top and upper management's hiring practices are grossly unethical. A lot of gaslighting and cronyism were regularly practiced. Zero ethics or integrity. The workload was entirely too much for one person to handle. There are too many layoffs in my short time to count and you never know when you are the next. Stay away from this company.

If anything, it teaches you patience and how to spot terrible leadership early.

This job was exhausting and stressful, mostly because upper management has no clue what they're doing. Leadership is all over the place, nothing is planned, and everyone seems scared of making a decision. The goals they set are ridiculous, and everything they promised during hiring turned out to be empty words. I lost count of how many times I had meetings scheduled with C-level folks who just didn't show up, no message, no apology, nothing. Gaslighting and favoritism were everywhere, and if you didn't play along with office politics, raises never happened. Departments barely talk to each other, layoffs happen constantly, and trying to get anything done feels impossible. By the end, I was completely wiped and just done with the nonsense.

A few coworkers tried to survive the chaos together,

-Leadership is clueless yet acts like they are in control -Meetings with senior leadership are a waste of time, as they often ghost employees with no explanation or apology -Department do not collaborate, instead passing blame whenever mistakes occur -Layoffs are frequent, keeping everyone in a constant state of fear and instability -Micromanagement is extreme, making even simple tasks stressful and frustrating -Leadership is unethical, making promises about bonuses or growth that are later broken with no accountability

- good money (although has changed) - Good work life balance

- company growth has slowed, impacting job security

Great people Unlimited PTO Good benefits

Frequent reorgs and layoffs Not many cons

Met some life-long friends and gained some valuable experience.

Regular gaslighting and cronyism. Management has no vision or consistency. They only care about themselves and can continue making poor decisions without accountability. Layoffs are constant, while raises are handed out to those who comply with unethical practices. And if you're looking for any form of reasonable expectations and healthy collaboration, you will not find that here.DO NOT WORK THERE! I cannot stress that enough.

there are kind, caring people that work there.

- lack of strategy and direction - numerous times I was scheduled to meet with my c-level department head and they just entirely ghosted me - no message, no email, not even an apology for wasting my time - no cohesion among departments - repeated layoffs - lots of gaslighting from c-suite and vp levels - missed quarterly targets every quarter i was there

Meeting different clients and people can be a valuable experience, but it is not the only meaningful benefit.

Leadership at Firstup has poisoned the workplace, turning it into a miserable and suffocating environment. Management piles on impossible expectations and crushing demands, leaving employees drained and demoralized. Managers manipulate, deceive, and exploit staff, eroding trust and crushing any sense of security