Close Reviews

Pros

- Bootstrapped (and profitable)... - This means we only answer to our customers (customer focused) - Freedom to do meaningful work without politics or red tape - Highly collaborative team, welcoming of different ideas and personalities - Flexibility (fully remote, flexible hours, team trust and understanding)

Cons

I've worked in tech companies large and small and nothing compares to the experience at Close. No cons to mention!

Pros

They'll say all the right things to make you feel special at first, so you feel like it's worth the stress.

Cons

Prepare to be gaslit. They purposefully keep teams small so they can exploit you for labor. extremely lacking in diversity. no interest in actually making change as long as upper management keeps making money. product actually has structural issues because they are also so stingy with money Stay far away if possible. Don't believe me? Take a look at all the negative interview experiences. It's clear they've asked current employees to flood Glassdoor with positive reviews to bury negative ones.

Pros

Absolutely love this team and our mission––and the day-to-day is my favorite job to date. You'll get a lot of autonomy (but regular check-ins and guidance to make sure your priorities are aligned). Very few meetings and a true remote-first, asynchronous culture. Work on your schedule with little micromanaging and really great benefits. Feels like a very mature company culture with mutual respect and employee investment, plus––we're building a cool product that customers actually love, which feels affirming.

Cons

Some of the smaller departments are still building project management processes, so there's sometimes confusion that we need to clear up in team meetings and regular syncs about what's gotten done/still needs to be done. It's still much more manageable than other companies I've worked at though, so it's not really a complaint. More of just my only regular bump in the road.

Pros

*Amazing remote culture and team. The people, hands down, are the best part of working at Close. Truly one of the best groups of humans I’ve ever encountered. *Open communication and transparency. No BS approach. No conversation is off limits. *Autonomous work environment - there’s a great balance of being able to do my job with little oversight, but enough guidance to make sure I’m on track *Flexible remote environment, work-life balance + incredible benefits. The company really values and invests in the whole individual, both in and outside of work *The bi-annual team retreats (in a non-COVID world) are amazing <3 *Thoughtful and inspiring leadership team. Really grateful for their transparency with decision making, which was very apparent throughout the COVID pandemic.

Cons

*Remote work isn’t for everyone - you have to be self-disciplined and self-motivated to stay on track.

Pros

Close is an amazing place to work because of a great remote-first culture, a focus on high-quality work, and a high level of trust/autonomy. The company has a value of "Build a house you want to live in" which is reflected in a number of ways: 1) Employees stick around - not high churn 2) High quality work, product, and codebase 3) People care about the company, their work, and each other 4) A truly remote-only culture with an emphasize on async work Finally – it's very clear the company cares about each individual, new and old. A recent example of this was how thoughtfully the company handled an uncertain situation at the beginning of COVID-19. Compensation & benefits are very good, especially for remote.

Cons

High expectations; you have to be very self-motivated; limited opportunities for growing into people management since the company is relatively small (< 50) - however there are lots of other growth/leadership opportunities for individual contributors.

Pros

* Friendly team environment where everyone cares about their work and each other * Great remote first work environment * Founders provide great leadership * There are opportunities to grow professionally even though the company is still relatively small

Cons

Honestly don't have any major negatives, they would just be nitpicking

Pros

* Leadership genuinely cares about the people who work here * Good company culture and leadership actively seeks out feedback to improve * Competitive compensation and generous benefits * Motivated and thoughtful colleagues who take pride in their work * Large degree of autonomy

Cons

Because we are a small company and there's a lot we want to accomplish, sometimes it can feel hard to step away for more than a few days at a time.

Pros

- Some nice coworkers - Remote work - The product is pretty good

Cons

I cannot hold my tongue any longer. During the yearly team retreats the founders say things about minorities that you wouldn’t believe if I wrote them out here. One of the founders moved to a remote part of the USA to, in his words, “preserve the racial purity of my family”. Another company leader talked about how he doesn't mind hiring a "cheap indian programming slave", but the leaders of the company must all remain white and of European descent. I have seen so many great minority candidates get passed over for someone less great who is white. It’s driving me crazy and I will quit working here soon. If you don’t believe it, take a look at their team photo. These people are white supremacists and you shouldn’t do business with them.

Pros

The company culture is really great. There's a culture around transparency and no BS. No wasting time sitting in pointless meetings. If you think something needs to change, you're encouraged to say so. If you feel you need clarification on something (e.g. during a presentation), you're encouraged to ask. Decisions are data driven. Discussions are productive and focused on outcomes. The people I work will really are professionals and are fantastic to work with. There's nobody who could leave and I wouldn't care (and this definitely wasn't true in some previous places I've worked). I feel like I'm trusted and empowered to actually do the work that needs to be done. There's enough difficult problems that there's always something interesting to work on. I think I've literally used this phase when talking to some former colleagues: "Turns out sometimes the grass actually is greener."

Cons

None really to speak of. I feel comfortable having frank conversations about anything that comes up, and these usually turn into collaborative discussions about "how can we solve this problem?".

Pros

Working at Close has been a blast! When I applied to work there, I read all the Glassdoor reviews and to be honest, was kinda like, "Sure, yeah, whatever - this is probably the typical 'Glassdoor window dressing' stuff." So while I was excited about accepting an offer to work with their team, I was also a bit skeptical that my perception of great people doing great work would be quickly disappointed, so I lowered my expectations preparing to be mildly disappointed. Amazingly, I haven't been disappointed at all - actually, surprised by how legitimately kind, humble, and thoughtful the team is to work alongside daily. We joke, we laugh, we work hard - and working with people who care about their customers and the results (and how they achieve those results!) is a total breathe of fresh air. After starting here, I was given a copy of the book "Rework" written by Jason Friedman and DHH from Basecamp as a, "Hey, read this - it explains a lot of how we think about what we do." I was already a huge fan of how Basecamp operates, so I was immediately impressed. As the months continued, I've had more experiences that show the company lives up to the hype. For example, one evening my manager basically (kindly) scolded me for NOT having my "Do Not Disturb" enabled on Slack so I can unplug from my work when I'm not at my desk. Who does that stuff these days??? So awesome. There's a prevailing sense of confident-humility that's quick to own up to poor decisions, acknowledges real skill and ability, praises good choices, and defaults toward action and getting stuff done. Close has some many people scattered around the world from different cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities - and I feel like I'm continually learning from their life experiences and perspectives as well.

Cons

It's not for everyone. If amid uncertainty, you don't naturally default toward action (e.g., "I'm not sure, but I can figure it out..."), you likely won't be a fit at Close. In that same vein, you likely won't be a fit if you're intimidated to ask questions - even seemingly silly ones. As a culture, we question ourselves, our peers, our processes, and choices from last week, month, or year. So if you're not comfortable reconsidering what seemed best yesterday - or asking questions about it, you likely won't be a fit. The team works hard but has strong expectations that you unplug, step away, and recharge - and if you can't manage yourself (both by showing up and also showing yourself out), you likely won't be a fit here. Additionally, a common denominator here is the ability to admit when you're wrong - but also a strength in being able to stand behind your decisions. In other words, owning your work, outcomes, and choices. No one acts defeated or like a whipped puppy. The culture is warm, forgiving, and supportive - but if you're more about defending your actions (defensive) than owning the results (humble strength), you'll likely struggle with the open and honest culture.