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Markus Witte
18 Ratings
Pros
"Nice office in Mitte - without the attitude of Mitte" (in 3 reviews)
"Company Culture & Diversity" (in 4 reviews)
Cons
"with the whole management from delivery hero coming in, the company culture went down" (in 3 reviews)
"Lack of vision and some uninspiring leadership" (in 2 reviews)
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"Great product, fun and diverse"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Babbel full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
-Great product with great potential for the US market
-The company values diversity
-Open collaborative environment
-Travel opportunites to HQ in Berlin
-New team with good growth internal opportunities
-3 weeks vacation for the first year
-100% vesting scheduleCons
-Most development still is done in HQ/Berlin which can be challenging at times
-Getting used to the European work culture in HQAdvice to Management
Keep valuing people and push more user feedback into the product
Babbel 2017-05-02 19:11 PDTHelpful (3)
![Babbel Logo]()
"Great company / product but the CEO..."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookDisapproves of CEOI have been working at Babbel full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Strong company culture of learning
Bright and competent colleagues
Decent product - development could be fasterCons
CEO is suspicious of team, asserting dominance despite lack of expertise...even controlling the copy.
She creates an uncomfortable working environment lacking in trust.Advice to Management
CEO needs to step back, learn to trust the team and focus on long term strategy
Babbel 2018-12-06 05:31 PST![Babbel Logo]()
"sales"
StarStarStarStarStarDoesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Babbel full-time (More than a year)
Pros
job was there that is it
Cons
there is not enough room to list,
Babbel 2018-09-30 17:15 PDTHelpful (16)
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"US Office is a Bummer, mainly due to CEO"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
I worked at Babbel (More than a year)
Pros
For the most part, the team US team is diverse, easy to work with, and driven. It's small so can feel a bit insular, but generally lovely people The company is based in Berlin, and if you are lucky enough to work over there you'll work at an amazing space with great perks and benefits and really nice atmosphere. The US office comes with none of the perks, benefits, or general pizazz of the startup culture they are trying to sell you on.
Cons
-The US CEO is a soulless, visionless bot. Run. Run far away from her. She seems genuinely unhappy in her job and like she's taking it out on everyone around her.
-The product itself is mediocre due to a backlog of tech and engineering issues. The strategy is focused on marketing the hell out of this sub-par paid product (in a climate of lots of free products) rather than actually improving it.
- The vast disparity in benefits and perks between the US and Berlin office leaves the US team feeling woefully undervalued.Advice to Management
- Hire a new US CEO
- Create more parity between the two offices, particularly around benefits and culture
- Prioritize product improvement over brand recognitionBabbel 2018-01-17 09:13 PST![Babbel Logo]()
"Nice to learn"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Babbel full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Good people, great culture and nice place to learn.
Cons
Salary is a bit below standard
Babbel 2019-02-15 21:24 PST![Babbel Logo]()
"Great company, meaningful product"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Babbel full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
A company that allows people to be themselves and that sells a product that changes lives. There is no day I doubt I want to work here.
Cons
Steep growth brings challenges.
Advice to Management
Keep on developing people and never lose touch with the customers
Babbel 2019-01-31 14:37 PST![Babbel Logo]()
"Good company culture"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Babbel full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Nice atmosphere and colleagues
Cool conditions and salariesCons
Your opinion is probably not very valued
Not many opportunities to growBabbel 2019-01-13 08:59 PSTHelpful (4)
![Babbel Logo]()
"Showing off culture"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Babbel full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Still good colleagues (even though a lot of them left).
Cons
The company is suffering from "growth-pain", but going in a negative direction with incapable management to keep the balance, a lot of people who've been there for a while left the company. These are the things that I notice in the last 8 months:
- Culture is more and more going into the direction of showing off and faking results
- Not clear vision and strategy, not even transparency lately
- People who are working hard are not rewarded.
- Directors are mostly not capable to lead the team.
- Salaries are low for people who've been for a while in the companyAdvice to Management
Instead of hiring new people without knowledge in a higher position that has an attitude just to show off, promote people who are actually working hard for this company.
Babbel 2019-01-03 15:18 PSTHelpful (1)
![Babbel Logo]()
"Slowish but with ambition"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at Babbel full-time
Pros
Flexibility and flat hierarchy - one can work from home, 30 days holiday yearly
The opportunity to test and learn
Halfway between startup and corporate
Great peopleCons
Lack of vision and some uninspiring leadership
Too slow and afraid of change - not set up to be agile at all
Not innovative anymore - legacy software and very little done on the product side
Some people are visibly frustrated or too comfortableAdvice to Management
They don’t listen anyhow
Babbel 2018-12-16 02:18 PST![Babbel Logo]()
"Avoid"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at Babbel full-time
Pros
Nice employee led initiatives and short working times
Cons
Terrible management and slow progress on every front
Advice to Management
Listen more
Babbel 2018-12-16 06:00 PST
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