Pros
- Some awesome people worked there - Their software is great, and appears to be industry-leading
Cons
I stumbled on the term "toxic positivity" recently, and my first thought was how it encapsulates aXcelerate perfectly. The founder (director and co-CEO) pushes a narrative of love and joy and wholesomeness, while also being moody, authoritarian, and prone to bouts of sulking when she doesn't get her way. Positivity is baked into their company values, which are lovely in theory, but sadly, didn't seem to be practised by the person who came up with them (at least not towards staff). This created a jarring dissonance that made the whole place seem fake. I often felt like I was being treated like a child. If you repeatedly broke a rule, you were threatened with a "black mark against your name," as though you were an infant in primary school. Worst of all, during monthly planning meetings, the entire company was encouraged to stand up and dance, to "push you out of your comfort zone." And if you were caught being idle, the founder would single you out and send you to the front of the room, where your embarrassment could be fully realised. When people gave feedback about this, it was rebuked by the founder in the meeting, and then following by...you guessed it, another bout of forced dancing. It was the most bizarre place I've ever worked, and I was glad to be out of there.
