8y
Thanks for taking the time to write this review. We very much regret that anyone who had worked at NextThought would feel compelled to leave such a review, and we obviously take allegations of "sketchy" and especially illegal behaviors seriously.
We’re proud of what we’re building at NextThought, and our people work very hard and expect the same from all their teammates. To recognize this high level of effort and ownership, every full-time employee at NextThought is granted equity/options, so it's natural that people invest a lot of sweat and blood into the success of the company. The fact that the complaint is made that people are “overworked” in a “9-5” job is a bit oxymoronic in the tech startup culture such as exists at NextThought. There are definitely very hard-working people at NextThought, but they aren’t “9-5-ers.” Although we put a lot of effort into our candidate hiring and screening process, our hard-working and high ownership culture demands the highest caliber people, and as a result, not everyone is a good fit. However, for those that are a good fit, our voluntary employee retention rate averages over 96%, which is incredibly high for the tech industry (or just about any industry).
Regarding our use of contractors, NextThought currently employs about 60 people who work at least 10 hours/week. Of those 60 employees, there are 45 full-time, 10 university interns, and 5 contractors. The contractors are either working on a short-term basis for a particular project or are contractor by choice to keep their working hours and options flexible. When we do have a project that lasts more than a month but still has a definite end and ask a contractor to commit to an extended period, they have always been grateful for the guaranteed stable work. We value the contributions our contractors have made towards NextThought's success and are glad that we are able to provide them that opportunity. Historically, the vast majority of contractors that have worked for an extended period have later accepted full-time positions.
It is true that we have good computers, good food and especially good people. The company is built on people and we will either succeed or fail together and because of each other. As a result, we value people’s time, feedback and anything that will make their work more efficient, productive and improve the quality of life during the significant portion of life that we spend together as a team. Everyone who works at NextThought is here because they like their work, their teammates, the culture, and have the common goal of succeeding together.
Jeff, President and Co-Founder (AKA "sketchy senior management")