Bronto Software Reviews

Pros

Great diversity, wonderful people to work with. My director was great and so was most of the management team.

Cons

Bronto was purchased by NetSuite which in turn was purchased with Oracle. Its still a good place to get experience but the culture is different now and so are the perks. It used to feel more like a startup environment now it's a corporate environment.

Pros

American Tobacco Campus location, free snacks, sodas and beer, foosball, there is a sabatical after 5 years, but you won't make it that long

Cons

The two founders are still there and still run the company like it is their personal club. They don't have the experience or the sense to run a real business, so they focus on things like silly company games, office expansion and marketing events. They lump all this under "culture." Meanwhile they pay below market wages, skimp on bonuses, have bare minimum benefits and generally try and extort as much as possible from their employees. They hire generally incompetent managers who can't lead, but instead just rah-rah everything the founders do or say. Even though they claim they are a start up, you will find more money in the cushions of your couch than you'll get from the equity that they hand out. The greatest farce is the travel policy of sharing hotel rooms and the red eye requirement, so the best thing to do is just avoid travel at all costs. They cover up the awful environment by forcing employees to say nice things about the company: forced voting in the Best Places to Work survey and I'm sure several of the reviews on this site. They also hire young, inexperienced people who don't know any better, they get a few years from the good ones before they figure it out and leave. The bad ones stay, especially if they rah-rah the founders silly actions.

Pros

The company really does live its' values of passion, transparency and approachability. Have never worked for a company (especially a private one) that shared its plans and the results with all employees as openly as this one does. The C level execs are open and accessible to all employees. They move their desks around the company, sitting in different depts so they can be connected to what is really happening in the company. Yes, the culture is quirky and fun as others have said but more than anything I would call it collaborative. The open environment encourages collaboration and it happens at all levels, within and across all depts. It is common to be having a conversation with a colleague and have a colleague from another dept who is walking by just join in the conversation and add their point of view. The added perspectives are welcomed. Don't join this company if you don't appreciate collaboration.

Cons

The biggest challenge of the company is managing its rapid growth. Maintaining the culture and the high levels of success while growing this fast can often be a challenge. Sometimes it feels like different groups get out of sync with each other, and most times, they work together to figure out what happened and how to avoid it in the future.

Pros

I really enjoy the freedom. Within my role, I have the opportunity to make it my own and form it into any variety that I most enjoy or into a type that I notice a need for. The office is a very comfortable environment and has lots of opportunities for physical activity in the area, like the YMCA, basketball court, and nice areas to take walks.

Cons

In short, I think communication within and around Engineering could be improved. There are benefits to not bogging down a department with process and the department currently holds a great practical balance around documentation, but I feel Bronto could benefit greatly by defining some standards and applying some small processes within the Engineering department to radiate information and to decrease misconceptions about the current development process. Specifically, I think the relationship between software engineers and QA would greatly improve in addition to increasing external visibility into the development progress. For example, if what triggers deployments to staging and to production were more clearly defined, all teams within the company would have a shared understanding of the reason for each type of deployment and would be able to speak the same language when discussing them .

Pros

Transparency (from upper and lower management), fun culture, and intelligent, capable people are why I enjoy working here so much. I genuinely look forward to work every day, and feel satisfied with what I and my team accomplished when I go home. Everyone here feels like a friend and has a good time while producing with quality. There isn't pressure to just "meet the numbers", but plenty of encouragement to love what you're doing and care about doing it well. *I am giving all 5 stars in my ratings, and I hope those who read this review will believe me when I say that I could not in good conscience give less in any of the categories, though I wanted to just to make the review less monochromatic. This is simply a great company!

Cons

None really to speak of. Every company has its days, but on the whole I would struggle to find anything that Bronto lacks. The company is growing, so it's a little harder than it used to be to stay in touch with all parts of the organization, but the leadership here prioritizes that constantly - and tells us so - and executes well.

Pros

- Free Drinks - Occasional Tickets to Bulls games

Cons

Wow, where to start. First of all, all of the negative reviews are almost entirely accurate. You'll also notice that these all come from Sales and Marketing positions - those positions that actually bring in revenue to the company. That's telling. Biggest problem is that from the top of the Management Team (VP of Sales) to the lower rungs of management (Sales Directors) it is disturbingly dysfunctional. The VP treats everyone with a certain tone of "I'm better than you" I won't get into details b/c this Review will not be posted, but suffice it to say that the ship is being run aground and the only ones with lifeboats are the officers! The software is the other side of the horror story - it is so flawed and none of the customers or prospects know this until it's too late. The platform is inferior and rife with issues and there is too much attention being paid to parties every Friday, expanding the office space, and hiring more managers than what is most important which are the people and the software.

Pros

Competitive pay now that Oracle is bankrolling them. Oracle benefits.

Cons

After only a couple of months in, I can say this is the worst job I've ever had. To begin with, the job description was misleading and advertised in such a way to attract talented people to menial positions. When I spoke in the interview about certain aspects of the job that interested me the most, I got smiles and nods instead of an honest "actually, you will not get to work with that technology." Inter-departmental communication is atrocious. There is no spirit of co-operation between teams, and most teams view each other combatively and disparage them constantly. People are not overly interested in helping you solve a problem if they can get by with ignoring it. As a result, a very common tactic is to send an email to the person you want help from, their manager, and your manager (if not more people)... before even asking someone directly for help. Employees consistently do as little work as possible to send an issue or project to the next person or team and not worry about it. No one takes ownership of anything. Big company bureaucracy paired with the undefined and loose processes of a former startup make this the worst of both worlds; not the best.

Pros

Bronto Software has a clear vision of high growth goals and presents on these goals and results quarterly. This facilitates an environment where employees are aware of company initiatives and can easily work together toward common goals. I enjoy the approachable nature of Bronto's employees and space. Bronto's office space is located in a really beautiful campus at American Tobacco. Bronto's culture is one of a kind. In addition to growth in the business, this company encourages improvement in individuals and the community through Social, Green, Acitve, and Community committees. While employed by Bronto I've had the opportunity to increase responsibility in the business as well as participate in activities where I can achieve personal development, better the community, and interact with my co workers outside of the office place. I feel valued and appreciated as an employee at Bronto.

Cons

In an effort to continually develop my professional skills, I would like to see Bronto introducing more training programs and tools into the organization. I do believe that this is a coming company initiative.

Pros

As a Bronto intern I was treated like a real employee and was able to learn so much about my field. Now that I am an employee, I am just as impressed with my job. I am trusted with responsibility and given great opportunities for personal growth so I really feel like I'm making a difference. The culture is wonderful. At Bronto, the CEO and COO are just as approachable as someone on your team. There are no offices here, just a collaborative work environment. We are given vision as we are kept up to date on where we are as a company and where we are going. It is such a great motivator to know what you're working towards. One of my favorite aspects of our culture is the motivation to give back. We have many different volunteer opportunities to participate in. So not only do I feel like I am making a difference in my company but also in the community. Between personal growth and the company culture, going to work everyday is an easy task.

Cons

As the company grows larger, communication between departments tends to become a little difficult, as it would with any company.

Pros

I have worked for several different companies of different sizes and different ages. There is no doubt that Bronto has most of it figured out. The training is the most comprehensive training you will go through, the people are awesome and all friendly (I do not hesitate to stop and talk to the CEO or COO if I have questions or suggestions about the product), and the salary and benefits are fantastic, I mean like legit good. We also enjoy flexible hours. I saw one review where the hours were listed way longer than most people work. Of course if you are in sales, the more you put in the more you get out, am I right?

Cons

Anytime you work somewhere for a certain length of time you can find things to complain about, but really in the long run there is nothing bad about this place compared to my other jobs.