Big vibe shift in 2023 - Senior Software Engineer Lambda Employee Review

2.0
Jul 7, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good compensation, extremely talented engineers, good engineering managers, good product-market fit

Cons

Lambda began growing insanely fast around 2023, and a massive vibe shift (for the worse) came with that. The CEO is smart but checked out -- too busy talking with investors and big customers to actually run the company. The woefully inexperienced CTO effectively runs the engineering org, and does a terrible job of it. Demands micromanagement and extended hours from managers, and makes rash decisions that nobody else agrees with. An engineer that wants to keep his job (I say his because there aren't any women engineers at the company) needs to exert a solid effort managing the feelings of senior leadership, because your actual manager won't necessarily be able to do it for you. Even then, prepare to find yourself re-org'd against your wishes and without any warning. Lambda used to be a great place to work, but after the early 2023 pivot, it's a completely different company.

Explore other reviews about Lambda

5.0
Jan 14, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Comp is excellent Strong, high-trust culture Teammates are excellent

Cons

401k match is so-so Hiring has recently mostly been for the Bay Area

1.0
Apr 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lambda pays above market salaries and has a good benefits package relative to other pre-IPO businesses that are out there. There are pockets of good people who genuinely believe in the mission and do good work, though those are few and far between to be honest. The work life balance is really good and if you're on the right team you can make a lot per hour to ship absolutely nothing of value since there is little if any oversight to actually doing your job. If you're in a place in your career where you want to rest and vest because you have a family or a lot of hobbies outside of work this is about as good as it comes.

Cons

If you're an organized and ambitious professional who wants to operate at a high performance level and be around peers that do the same this will be hell for you and you'll probably be lied to during the interview panel about how awesome everyone is. You will not be able to do anything to move the needle forward on things that drive results without attaching yourself politically to folks that are a part of the inner circle since everything is incredibly top down driven. The company is so politically messy that everything takes 5x longer than what you'd be able to do at a less chaotic organization. The CEO and CTO are probably the worst I have ever seen in my decade plus career yet refuse to follow the boards instructions to get professional management help. I'm ashamed to say I work for these leaders. I'd estimate that over half of the company is on the spectrum and if you're in a customer facing or adjacent role it takes an incredibly amount of effort and feather ruffling to shield the customer from the nightmare that is Lambda. There will be many times where you'll be utterly embarrassed to be an employee at the company and you'll get gaslit into things being improved but they never will. Please do yourself a favor and do not work here.

7
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