The Trade Desk Reviews

Pros

All the typical Silicon Valley pros like free food, flexible work hours, great comp packages, etc. Upper management is also amazingly receptive to new ideas and loves contributors. Everyone is willing to work extremely hard for a unified vision and goal. The future is very bright, but only if we go and execute at a high level.

Advice to Management

Keep doing what got us here: push the envelope and make bold decisions without sacrificing our relationships with our agencies. At the same time, stay in our lane. We got to where we are by being a top tier DSP. We don't need to be a full stack solution like GMP.

Pros

Clear company vision
Great benefits (medical, dental, 401k, etc.)
Global company allows each office to have its own culture
Solid work-life balance, with monthly morale events (most offices I visited)
Inter-office travel is available if you're on good terms with your manager
Depending on your team, there are some exciting technologies to work on

Advice to Management

Trust is a two-way street.
Sharing your opinion should be valued and not seen as toxic.
Listen to your employees. Managers shouldn't control the narrative.
Allow people to switch managers. More experiences create well rounded people.

Managers should have a thorough knowledge of the produce and what their reports are doing. Having to explain the purpose of a component does not provide much confidence in your manager being able to advocate for you.

You've created a culture of fear where people are scared to speak out for fear of being labeled negative or an instigator. You're not going to grow if you only want to hear positive feedback. Learn to listen before jumping to conclusions about motive.

Pros

Great leadership. Clear vision. Compensation, benefits and perks are A+. If you like to dig and learn it's a great place to be.

Advice to Management

Don't let department heads isolate their teams. Let leaders grow. There are other teams besides Business and Engineering; they keep the wheels burning too.

Pros

Growing fast and lots of room to move around if you want. Lots of tech. Advertising is always a great space.

Advice to Management

I get it,,, you're all friends. Sell to a larger company so they can gut you and finally get rid of the relatively smart people who think they are a whole lot smarter.

Or

You need to shake up executive management. That does not mean firing them all, but when really sharp talent comes knocking, put the company first and your egos aside.

Pros

This is truly a company that wants to do well, and has done a great job so far of surpassing the competition in becoming a stand out in the ad-tech space... just look at the stock gains.

You'll learn a lot real fast so as long as you're able to stand on your own two feet and live and breathe the culture.

It's a great resume addition.

Advice to Management

Listen to the employees and lose the old school mad men management style.
If you say you want employees to freely talk to any manager in the company, actually mean it.

Pros

For starters, I have tried very hard not to be a kool-aid drinker, as it's in my nature to question everything, but the culture here is very strong, and the wide-spread positivity is infectious. I was genuinely shocked to find that a large portion of my colleagues seem to enjoy coming to work. Who knew that was possible?

This place isn't Google or Facebook, which I see as a positive. While we aren't pampered with chefs, barista bars, or personal massages, the perks are still quite nice. There are plenty of snacks, free lunches once or twice a week, annual company conferences, sit/stand desks for everyone, legit company swag that I'm not embarrassed to wear around town, and a relatively solid work-life balance. While I don't speak for all, I find the compensation to be far better than that of other companies in our industry.

The leadership team seems genuinely interested in hearing employee feedback and I found them to be accommodating when making special requests.

Advice to Management

Please don't take questions about policies or compensation personally. In some cases, the comp structure can be a tad confusing, so questions regarding clarification are not necessarily an indication of unhappiness or unfairness, but simply a need for further explanation.

TTD is clearly doing something right, as indicated by the tremendous growth both in headcount and finances. Don't focus too much on making sure that everyone loves the leadership team. The role of leadership is to be smart and make tough decisions, even if they are unpopular.

Pros

Intellectually stimulating environment. Awesome cross between independence and guidance when needed. Strong leadership.

Pros

Strong product, CEO is a good guy, working with clients is fun and rewarding...at the best of times (see below).

Pros

This is hands down the best place to work in Ventura County. We really are one big happy family here. The benefits, perks, and camaraderie are second to none.

Advice to Management

We aren't a startup anymore but we like to pretend we are. In some ways that's good, but it can be bad morale. We still act like we're the company that surfs on our breaks when realistically most of us eat lunch at our desks because we're so busy. Let's embrace our growth in a more honest way.

Pros

Work with smart people
Inspiring vision from CEO

Advice to Management

Address the negativity. Some people might complain about everything but if even the sensible people seem negative, there is a problem. Talk to people and dont expect managers to solve everything because they are likely the issue.

Take a hard look at those in leadership. Please dont be complacent about those in leadership who dont add much value. Having these people in power leads to the people below them becoming disillusioned especially since the CEO says he values impact to the company