Brad's Deals Reviews

Pros

Great mentors. The whole development team will give you all the help you need to learn as an intern. Great work-life balance. Good AGILE work environment with daily meetings and bi-weekly SCRUMS. Opportunity to work on projects as an intern. Very good work environment with highly approachable software development team. Work from home on Fridays.

Cons

Could have had a better pay for the interns.

Pros

- There is much to do, and not enough people to do the work. This provides an opportunity for those who are willing to try. Work is never boring. - Inspirational quotes are everywhere and reflect the attitude of the founder: You miss 100% of the shots you don't try to take. If you have a great idea, you are allowed to run with it. - The founder, Brad Wilson, is great! Everyone likes him. - Weekly catered lunches, Work Parties, Softball games, and mixers, and a stocked fridge with plenty of healthy snacks. We proudly recycle! - Work from Home Fridays during the summers. - Overall, the people who work there are good at what they do, can wear many hats, and get along well. Co-workers are helpful. If you need something, others are willing to show you how to do something. Others notice and can vote for an employee of the month. - It's a great place to learn.

Cons

- The retail selling cycle means we are busiest during Thanksgiving and Christmas and the time leading up to the holidays. Up to this time, you might have to work late. - The company is growing. Staff has doubled in size over the past year and continues to grow. We never know who is starting or when. - One executive has a very opposite style to the founder. The executive comes off as awkward and haughty.

Pros

Free food (stocked kitchen with snacks/drinks and lunch on Wednesdays). Work at home Fridays in the summer. Lots of open spaces (and closed offices) available to work in. Flexibility with when you come in (you can start whenever you want, as long as you put in your 8 hours a day).

Cons

Working at Brad's Deals is great on the surface. It's won a ton of awards for being one of the best places to work, and that's what the company projects, outwardly and inwardly. (Sometimes I feel that the fact that this is such a great place to work is shoved down my throat.) But, in reality, it isn't. A ton of people in my department aren't satisfied. The base salary is too low, and now, it is harder to get bonuses. There was a bit of a big hype about hitting the more than 50 employee mark, but really, that isn't so much about growth as it is about replacing people. For example, if you look in the acknowledgements of Brad's book, more than half the people listed now aren't with the company (around a year and a half after the book was published). I think the cons can be summed up in three words: unfair, cheap, and favoritism.

Pros

Working with very smart people. Everyone really seems to know how to get things done relatively quickly in comparison to places that I've worked at previously. The leadership team is open in terms of transparency about what is going on. Most people generally seem to be in a good mood each day, which is probably a product of the environment. Free, healthy snacks and drinks are always available. Weekly company meetings don't seem like a chore. They are fun and informative. Several fun team activities occur throughout the year. My department has a very flexible schedule and from what I can tell most other departments do as well.

Cons

The pay seems to be below industry averages, but the perks help to bridge the gap.

Pros

A very young, open-office environment where everyone is smart, laid back and driven.The hours are flexible--Fridays are work at home in the summer, and you can work remotely almost any time as long as you're actually getting things done. Catered lunches on Wednesdays are a great motivator, and I also appreciate the free healthy drinks and snacks in the kitchen. Everyone is very open to collaboration and new ideas, and the monthly parties and weekly meetings (with beer!) help to foster new friendships and fun.

Cons

The pay isn't overly competitive, but the flexibility of my schedule makes up for that. It's also hard for me to see a clear career path within the company because everyone is so specialized, but as we grow that will probably change. Plus it seems like everyone who's been here a while has carved our their own path, which is pretty cool.

Pros

- Everyone has the opportunity to work autonomously while gaining experience across the company, broadening individual experience. - Those who are hungry to learn and grow, do so. Those who are not, do not. - There is no tenure-based expectation for advancement, it's entirely performance-based, which is how it should be. - The expectation for everyone is to challenge the norm and find better, more efficient, cost-effective ways of doing things. - If this isn't how you're wired, then it's not a fit. If it is, you'll see the difference and grow your knowledge and skills faster than at most other companies. - Other notables include extreme flexibility with schedule / work-life balance, awesome peers, and a pretty cool office.

Cons

Given the nature of our business, we tend to scrutinize things through a contrarian lens, which can slow some decisions down from time to time.