Motley Fool Reviews

Cons

Not everyone belongs there forever. Sometimes as a natural part of career progression it’s time to move on. There can be frustration when people don’t see their next step within the company. Instead of acknowledging that and moving on there are hurt feelings.

Cons

Bombastic, sensationalized titles and fake expertise. It is amazing how many stocks are "incredible buys" "ridiculously cheap", "no-brainers", etc. but at the disclosure part, the author very seldom actually owns the stock. Also amazing how many writers have CAP scores below 50, insinuating most of their readers have better investing ideas than the authors.

Cons

Not a good place if you are hoping for long-term rewards. The company's stock price (set by an outside third party) has barely budged even as the market has boomed. The CEO is a nice guy but lacks the discipline to run a growing company.

Cons

Your manager will dictate your experience. Several are not experienced as managers and are promoted with no managerial experience. This company is a stepping stone to better paying jobs.

Cons

There are so many great benefits and a lot of autonomy to set your own path. Some people can lose their way and forget how good they have it. Even the best culture over time can be taken for granted.

Cons

For as many wonderful things the Fool has going for it, there are just as many frustrating aspects. For starters, the company continues to beat its chest regarding compensation, benefits, and culture. Some of these things are worth bragging about, but compensation is not one. The company claims to benchmark comp and will pay at least at the median, but this just isn't true for the average employee. I've found salaries to be consistently under market, even when you incorporate benefits.

Secondly, the Fool claims to be a meritocracy, but being close with the Gardners is far more important than skill or acumen. There is also a strong "yes man" bias. Raising differing points of view from what management, especially the Gardners, want to hear will get you no where, even if it's the truth. I've seen many careers stagnate or even regress once someone broke from the party line. Don't be mistaken, this company is very much run and controlled by Tom and David.

The Fool has a lot of young workers. I'm not referring to those kids right out of college, but rather people under 50. That makes promotions and advancements very hard to come by. You see people moving laterally in the company rather than upward. That's okay, but don't expect to have a career schedule here. It can also make getting raises difficult because title and role changes don't come very often. Even more aggravating is the Fool's backward policy of not giving a raise when you do finally receive a promotion! For a company that shouts from the mountain tops that it values its employees, sometimes it really feels like you're fighting tooth and nail for everything that has a dollar sign attached to it.

Lastly, be prepared for changes on company strategy. It happens all the time. Although we preach taking the long-term view, sometimes it feels like we're fickle in our own company's goals. I've seen ideas for the business bubble up, ultimately die, only to reappear again a year down the road. Only this time it's somehow different. It can feel like we don't give a strategy enough time to actually take hold and produce results before we're worried about the next issue and are changing course. I think some more steady-handed leadership could be good for the business.

Cons

No downsides to complain about.

Cons

Leadership doesn't have great technical understanding, can lead to tension between the business objectives and technical objectives. Constantly striving to be innovative, but a few steps behind when it comes to technical infrastructure.

Cons

Fools love it here so much that there's very little turnover, meaning there's not obvious upward mobility. However, we're growing and I can see many opportunities opening up in the future.

Cons

Despite a fantastic vision the company has struggled to translate that vision into concrete results.