THEOplayer Reviews

Pros

Great colleagues outside of work Good product, good potential

Cons

Whatever good reviews at least in this year are either from those who haven't seen the true colour of this company, or those who are from the management level, trying to bump up the score. CEO is a decent guy outside of work but is not humble enough to acknowledge his shortcoming in managing the workforce. Everyone's hands were tied behind their back and those who work with him directly need to work around eggshells everyday. Consequently, the HR is non existent, did nothing but mostly administrative stuff. It seems like they focus on hiring team leads or managers who are 'Yes, sir' without necessarily having any of the managerial, on the job or even people experience. I counted how many people have came and left during my duration here, 50+ are the ones that I could count on top of my head, matching the names to the faces and positions - across commercial and technical - within 3 years. My advice for job-seekers here would be to wait and see if the investors are finally taking charge of the direction of the management of this company.

Pros

When I joined some structure was missing. Our manager was junior, it was his first job and he was lacking the needed experience. A more seasoned manager for our team was hired which had a positive impact on our way of working. They are putting the bar higher for everyone internally, they challenge us. I personally like the changes, I can work on development of innovative products with smart colleagues. Being part of this team is definitely more exciting than my previous job, but challenging at times as well.

Cons

I notice that some people are disgruntled with the ongoing changes. There are a lot of really smart people in the team I am impressed with, but for most this is also their first job. The average seniority level in the company still needs to further grow. I see especially some complaining when the management decides to let someone go. People here are more friends than colleagues, therefore these decisions quickly feel personal.

Pros

Innovation is all around, some of the team members are a worldwide reference in the industry and everyone's contribution is welcome.

Cons

As any other company in a similar growth stage, things must move fast and times to times it results in moving back and forward. It might times to times create confusion and frustration which results in people leaving the company.

Pros

I like a lot of my colleagues. Our team(s) are really great. There are a handful of really experienced guys where you can learn a lot and even if you don't work with them on a daily basis, there are a lot of challenges in the industry/technology which keep you learning. The (technical) management seems to allow you to experiment and listen to the approaches you want to go more and more, which allows you to learn a lot. There are a lot of opportunities to move (I haven't been in the company that long, but I've already seen a fair share of different team setups or people moving between teams). It's part luck and for a big part skills you seem to need to move, but it's clear that if there's a hole and you're willing to fill it, you can.

Cons

There clearly are some negative people left in the company. We don't have a culture which works for everyone (which is quite clear if you read some of the dirt written here). There is pressure to deliver, but for me, that works well. The industry is changing fast, so it's not a job where you sit back and relax. If that's what you're looking for, this is not for you. It also means you do have to reinvent yourself. I see people struggling with this, and it causes (understandable) frustration with them. It's very clear there is a fast moving group which is getting further and further ahead of those which are less invested. A lot of people working here are still relatively junior (including myself). I think for 50+% of them, this is their first job. It clearly gives a lack of reference, which causes all kinds of weird misunderstandings. Management seems to be trying different approaches to give more context, but that seems to confuse people even further.

Pros

Some good people work there.

Cons

There is a lot of micromanaging and a lot of inexperienced people. Even if you're an expert in your field you probably won't be listened to and if you disagree, not be there much longer and herded out the door. Roles and responsibilities have no relationship to reality, with people having job titles not even in the same area of what they actually do. The company needs to focus on getting all the basics right and stop thinking they are Netflix, Spotify or Google and misinterpreting how those companies operate - "Agile", does not mean chaos and no planning, strategy or documentation at all! Since before I started there the company was haemorrhaging people, along with their skills and knowledge.

Pros

International staff of clever and motivated people. Interesting business.

Cons

Only once you've left Theo you realize how toxic environment it was to work in. I've already worked in a bunch of different companies, but have never seen such incompetent and toxic leadership by the founders as at Theo. If you're doubting if the reviews here on glassdoor are true, I can confirm them all. The single real positive review was a returned favor, but not genuine. So if you think "it can't be that bad, I will make it work": think again and look for something else. It will save you a lot of frustration, energy and wasted time.

Pros

Working with amazing, friendly, and brilliant people. It was a fantastic company in its early stages, but the CEO and CTO issues were still present. Employees believed that scaling up would result in a substantive shift in the CEO's attitude. Everyone had high expectations for the senior staff employed, hoping that they would build a stable structure, but this did not occur.

Cons

A business that has developed too quickly, with a young toxic CEO who wants to establish a dictatorship and a brilliant CTO who is afraid of confrontation and won't stand up to the CEO. Both owners refuse to listen to their employees who have a lot more expertise and experience than they do. There are so many commitments made to their employees and clients, but no oversight or funding to keep them. Many employees left feeling that nothing would ever improve at the company. Others are still there and seem to be suffering from mental illness. HR is aware of the toxic atmosphere but refuses to act, instead allowing the misconduct to continue until the employee becomes ill or is fired. Employees hoped that the new COO would bring about positive change. Instead, he became the CEO's long arm. The COO was initially really inspiring, telling stories about his personal life and humanity. At the end of the day, this organization is transforming people into something negative. It is the duty of all to take action. People like the COO, unfortunately, are to blame for things never getting better. The CEO was puzzled by the need for a post-sale CRM, he didn't see how a CRM could aid in customer retention. The commercial team had been requesting a CRM for five years but had received no response. Investors in 2020 asked C-level executives if they had a churn predictor. They didn't have one, of course. A CRM became a must all of a sudden. This demonstrates the owners' lack of competence. They don't understand the fundamentals or what it takes to scale-up.