Lulu.com Reviews

Pros

A few year's ago Lulu went thru a change in technical leadership from the CTO all the way down. That leadership has brought in many progressive DevOps oriented concepts and has delivered several new modern products built upon a cloud hosted micro-service platform. The future is bright for Lulu.com!

Cons

None that I've seen so far

Pros

Flexible work environment, good culture, wonderful people, great place to cut your teeth in the technology space. If you put in the time and effort Lulu will help get your career off the ground.

Cons

Office location (Morrisville - RTP) Not the highest salaries when compared to other companies with similar positions High turnover

Advice to Management

Keep innovating. In the self-publishing space we have to continue to innovate to be successful. Any idea should be welcomed and vetted properly by management, no matter how small or who it comes from.

Pros

Lulu is not your typical office environment. From the floor plan to the amenities I can tell thought has been put into keeping everyone comfortably in touch with each other and this makes for a pleasant and productive day. Big Boy bean bags are scattered around for people to use when the cubicle cramps set in, large monitors keep everyone updated on how Lulu is doing. Recreational equipment and a private bar with... dart board come in handy to blow off stress. Communication tools and practices make it easy for the teams to collaborate and push forward. The galley is spacious and well stocked with several stocked refrigerators and a wide assortment of healthy and not so healthy munchies. You can literally survive on nothing but the food supply here. Just camp out. Lulu is a B Corp which means a lot to me coming from an environmental activist background. We compost, recycle, and are pretty lean and green in how me run the office. Lulu encourages employees to volunteer for community outreach activities like working a day for Habitat for Humanity or sponsoring and building a Little Lending Library for a local bookstore. I can say with a straight face that I love working here, and look forward to coming to work. I feel like my expertise and experience are appreciated and encouraged. I feel invested in the success of Lulu and am stimulated by the opportunity to use my special skills to improve our company. The health insurance is very affordable and the PTO and vacation package is generous IMO. WFH and flexible scheduling are a big plus and I made use of them extensively as I relocated from out of state while still getting work done.

Cons

I'd have to dig deep to find something to really complain about. I know it probably sounds candy-ass. As a 56 year old guy that has been running his own businesses for 1/2 his life it was not easy to wrap my head around working for a company other than my own. I was especially worried about being accepted because of my age. Most of Lulu employees are your typical millennial generation of kids that I can kind of... relate to, but to them I probably appear to be an ancient. So far no problems there, but it's not really a gripe it's just an observation.

Advice to Management

I would like to see some kaizen events at Lulu. I can't think of a company that is more prepared and ready to introduce them. Considering the importance of getting our direction defined accurately it would be good to adopt the methodology of involving the grunts in the decision making of the top brass from the top down. Kaizen can only be implemented from upper management via champions and a commitment to... continuous improvement. It would be exciting to see this come to the floor.

Pros

I came here from one of the big companies and declining other "big" company offer thinking if this is a great decision or not. I made one of the best decisions ever working at this place. Team, co-worker and management work together as family. This is the place where management treats employee as part of the family and not as "just" another employee in the company. Benefits are great, free snacks in the break room,... Pool Table, Foosball, Movie Fridays, and many many other great things. Best place ever.....

Cons

I have not figured out any downside but have seen lot of great opportunities...

Advice to Management

Management is awesome and wish them the same way going forward!!!

Pros

I've worked at Lulu for many years, and while I've seen the ups and the downs, there is a genuine sense of the corner being turned. Sure, there have been distractions in the past with separate verticals, but now that the focus has turned back to doing what Lulu does best (servicing the needs of authors and businesses around the world in need of print), I have a new sense of optimism. The team I work with is filled... with wonderful people, and at this point, most of the negative attitudes have left for other ventures. Atmosphere is nice, casual, and energetic. Obligatory snack room comment (though more options with less sugars would be appreciated).

Cons

The self publishing world is niche, in that there's not much training you can do externally to prepare you for working within the industry. By hiring people who are "bored of the product" or think we aren't exciting enough to sell, you only shoot yourself in the foot and discredit the hearts of the people who are passionate about the service provided. Those people also refuse to learn about the true benefits that... Lulu can provide and end up floundering when new projects don't quite pan out.

Advice to Management

Make the relationships between managers and direct reports more open and communicative so that more people feel included and empowered to find their own path. Mentoring goes beyond simply identifying the "next step" to take.

Pros

For those driven by purpose and wanting to be a part of helping authors get their content published, for those comfortable with change and liking to adapt to industry and technology changes, for those who value teamwork, camaraderie and creativity, this is a very good work environment with excellent people. Employees do work hard but the atmosphere is informal. Management is very flexible with work/life balance... needs.

Cons

There's been a lot of turnover so seeing your peers leave is hard, whether for reasons of relocation, bad fit, new opportunity, etc. The pace is very fast and it's not for everyone.

Advice to Management

Stay the course. Communicate often and get your middle tier involved. Keep employees informed on the key things that are driving the company forward and why they're important to the business and its growth. Same things apply to most companies these days.

Pros

Working at Lulu was a great experience for me and I find it hard to believe that most of these negative reviews aren't from just a few people who were let go for obvious reasons. I worked with really cool people, who had great ideas and made my job fun. My manager was always supportive of my ideas and growth. There were company events, ping pong tables, tons of great snacks and drinks in the breakroom, nerf gun wars... and more. It seemed like the executive staff, while located mostly in Europe, were invested in making the company better. I also really liked that there was a strong focus on sustainability and community, not just profits.

Cons

Every company has their share of issues, and it's true this one does too. However, I think everybody has their own perception of those issues and their severity. Where some people may point and say "problem", I think others would point and say"let's solve this". Lulu has so much potential and it's a shame a few negative people want to paint a bad picture of this company that's trying hard to innovate and rebuild.

Advice to Management

Do a better job of recruiting, hiring, and training in order to weed out potential negative people.

Pros

Hands down the most talented Engineering team I've ever been a part of. You'll be exposed to cutting edge technology and if a new piece of software is needed to get a job done there is no problem getting it approved. The DevOps team has helped me grow in ways I would have never imagined and because of this I'm much more confident in my ability to write software and program the web. HUGE stepping stone in my career.... Aside from the technical perks, the company as a whole consist of some of the kindest and most brilliant people I've ever met. Work/life balance is great and I've never had a problem getting time off to take care of myself or my family. These people are not just my colleagues, they are my friends. I am always finding myself invited to attend group lunches, tech meetups, and lots of fun company events. The comradery is what really makes this place feel like home and I'm truly blessed to have a job here. Benefits are excellent, 401k with employer matching, health/dental, stock options, the works really. One couldn't ask for more. Bottom line, this company is going places. I had no idea when I first got the job how established this company was. Lulu has already changed the way the publishing industry operates and now they are breaking into the education system. If you are lucky enough to get a job here, hold it dear and be prepared to LEARN.

Cons

Everything is a priority. Operating and maintaining too many lines of business at one time is frustrating. There is frequent change in the executive team.

Advice to Management

1) Listen to your Engineers. You are a tech company after all! We don't make this stuff up. If we tell you we need something, trust us! The web is constantly changing and those who refuse to acknowledge this AND adopt new practices are left behind (and it happens quickly). 2) Hone in on what's truly important for the business. There is a lot of noise that gets in the way of productivity. 3) Stop ignoring best... practices for accessibility/UX on the web. This is far more important than you realize! You have brilliant engineers who are very knowledgable in this area, ask their opinion and take their advice. This is, after all, why you hired them.. Isn't it? 4) Even the best team can only be spread so thin.