Pros
- You get to have a very unique position compared to most people. - The job is very important to the bike share in that you link people from city government, the local bicycle coalitions, neighborhoods, companies, etc. together to achieve a successful bike share system. - About 95% of people love the bike share and will try to support your efforts. - You will have a positive impact on your community since bike share affects health, green transportation, access to affordable transportation, etc.
Cons
- Many Cyclehop markets were pitched by Cyclehop executives that the system would be fully financed by sponsorships and membership sales. Less than 10% of Cyclehop's markets have sponsorship though. Even if an individual market does have sponsorship like Santa Monica, that money doesn't support the Santa Monica system, it's gets shifted to other cities which are hurting for funding. - Overall the whole company is a "Going Concern" since it continually has to take on debt to pay for operating expenses and overhead. Often times, employees are pressured to take pay cuts, and some employees have payments delayed until MGMT can get another loan. - Cyclehop MGMT has been operating bike share systems for years still, but MGMT is still horrible of putting systems in place for logistics, accountability, tracking, budgeting, etc. Basically, stuff that executives are supposed to handle or stay on top of so that lower level management and employees can do their jobs. - Because this company had cash flow problems, many cities did not have budgets for anything; marketing, sales, operations, or morale. The company policy is that operating expenses should be covered by operating revenue. This is not what was discussed during my interview not does it match what city entities are getting pitched from Cyclehop RFPs. - The highest level of MGMT fails to take any responsibility and has the poorest leadership I've seen in my 20 years of work experience. This same level of MGMT has show many examples of unethical behavior which this software doesn't allow me to discuss. I'll just say if your are a big fan of the current POTUS, you will love working for this company. -The company suffers high-turnover for several reasons. First, the pay is not competitive for the amount of time and effort that goes into the different positions. Most people don't work for a bike share for the money, so low pay is not the reason most people leave. The company is highly disorganized, the highest level of Executive MGMT is extremely hard to work for, and financial stability plague the business model and specifically this company. - The company tends to take advantage of people who are really passionate about their job, offering promotions, event opportunities, and pay increases, but fails to deliver. Watching your employees suffer and getting continually let-down is why I left this company. - I almost forgot to mention that there is no one explicitly responsible for HR, therefore taking care of local employees pay issues, medical, and benefits became a daily responsibility that proved to be impossible to solve as a city manager.
