Kiss the ring - Associate Tradebot Employee Review

Great company led by a brilliant entrepreneur.

I honestly have nothing bad to say.

- Most of the people are amazing. Very smart, talented, and fun to be around. - High standards. Some people may view this as a negative but it's really amazing to know that essentially everyone you work with is trying hard and pulling their weight. - Very good pay for KC. You probably won't find anything better outside of executive-level roles. Year-end bonuses can be quite good /if/ the company has a good year. - Lots of variety and agency. Not too much red tape when it comes to making impactful changes. - Free catered lunch is always a bonus, if for no other reason than convenience.

- While the compensation is good for KC, it is not competitive with other HFTs if you are willing to relocate. (You can expect to make anywhere from 1.5x to upwards of 3x elsewhere, depending on your experience and talent.) - No life insurance, and health insurance premiums are *very* high (which means that your salary isn't as good as you think it is!) - Weird stigma around working from home - Company culture can be clique-y at times. You will hear lots of corporate jargon about how "collaboration is better than ever," but in reality there are only a handful of people who can be bothered to talk with other teams on a regular basis. - They hire fresh college graduates almost exclusively. As a result, the company skews /very/ young; I'd guess the median age is 25. Great for having fun at company parties, not so great in terms of professional experience and mentorship. - A handful of the current 5-star reviews were submitted under duress. We were not explicitly told to leave positive reviews, but it was heavily implied. The CEO is, unfortunately, the source of almost all of the company's problems. And I want to be fair; he is a genuinely smart and talented guy who has built multiple successful businesses from scratch. He has a ton of hard-earned experience in the industry and quite a bit of worldly wisdom to go with it. But the more time you spend with him, that success starts to feel more like the result of good luck than of genuine leadership skills: - He says that he is open to criticism, but he doesn't take it seriously. Over time, this has manifested as him surrounding himself with "yes men". You could be the hardest worker in the world or a genius who makes the company a lot of money, but if the CEO doesn't like you, you will be at a significant career disadvantage. - He is too attached to "the glory days" where he was able to come up with winning trades all by himself and make a profit from his bedroom. But the industry is constantly evolving, while he is only getting older and busier. He wastes hundreds of hours (not just his own) trying to come up with his own strategies. They often are fundamentally flawed, but despite little to no success he continues to think that he knows better than all of the professionals he hired to do the same job. - He feels the need to personally understand and approve every trading and research idea. If it goes over his head it will not be approved. Advanced math and statistics are met with skepticism. He refuses to take a step back and release control to those that are more knowledgeable than he is. He enjoys it too much - it is a core part of his identity. *In my opinion this is Tradebot's biggest issue, and it could eventually become the company's downfall.* - He tends to say a lot of things that are wildly inappropriate for the workplace. Casual racism, sexism, classism, and general bigotry abound. But since no one can tell him why those statements are problematic (without risking their job), most people either ignore it or, worse, encourage him through fake laughter. - His questionable leadership tends to promote toxicity. Lots of whispering and gossip behind closed doors. If you stay with the company a long time, you will ultimately become jaded knowing that you are powerless to change anything. At that point your only options are to leave and save yourself, or drink the Kool-Aid and hope you don't end up going down with the ship. Despite all that, Tradebot is still a decent place to work. Especially for your first few years out of college - you will learn a lot, get paid well, and probably have a lot of fun. But it is not somewhere you want to stay long term if you are looking for a healthy environment to grow your career.