Twilio Reviews

Pros

Leader in their space. They have the most mature technology by far and are innovating quickly.

Cons

They are going through growth changes. This means they are growing up, and sometimes that means more process and change in culture. This is usually for the better, but it does create a little friction between the old staff who are not liking change and the new, energetic staff looking to drive greater growth.

Advice to Management

Keep a close eye on product, release what the customers need and deliver fast.

Pros

Growth, huge potential TAM, some strong capabilities throughout the company. Good work depending on what group you join.

Cons

It's so disappointing to discover that all is not what it seems. Engineering leadership is non-existent. Product is such a mess, it will take years to sort through. Merger integration is shaky at best. Executive leadership, the top two, will destroy the place. Wildly ruthless and disrespectful on a regular basis. Talk to any woman in leadership in particular. Stock price has plummeted. Much further, and... departures will add up. Loyalty to stock price, definitely not to the leadership. Diversity? Clear opportunity to hire a POC on the Board and who did they hire? Another white man. No substance or investment behind diversity whatsoever so stop pretending you're the voice for the industry. All remarkably disappointing.

Advice to Management

Know your strengths and limitations. Seek help and listen to it. Maybe treat people as your most important asset and show a little respect. Pay attention to crumbling tech platforms and non-existent leadership.

Pros

Market-leading products. Fantastic customer support. Great reputation with customers.

Cons

Comp plan is convoluted and includes carve-outs, margin limits, windfall clauses, and decelerators. You can close multiple million $$ contracts and only get credited for a few hundred thousand $$. What reps get paid for does not align with how customers want/need to purchase creating unnecessary sales friction. The structure makes it obvious management does not see the value of sales and works to limit... compensation. It is demoralizing.

Advice to Management

Twilio has amazing products but they do not sell themselves, not to enterprise customers. Look to other major SaaS players to better understand how they compensate their sales reps and rework the comp plan to pay reps for the full $$ they sell.

Pros

great products, culture, benefits, career track, stock, rapid growth means tons of opportunity, servant leadership, great CEOs, like my colleagues

Cons

growing pains, but you want to be at a growing company, not a shrinking one

Pros

Such a great company to work for.

Cons

None. Truly a great company.

Advice to Management

Keep up the good work.

Pros

Great culture is very inclusive with strong leadership that puts the people first. The product is strong and the space is very interesting.

Cons

The product is very technical, so you have to be committed to learning if you want to be good at your role. Also, the company is growing so fast that the pace is very fast. I don't see either as a 'con,' but rather, the challenge of working for a great company.

Advice to Management

Continue doing what you are doing.

Pros

-Talented, smart & experienced executive team -Leading CPaaS product -Stock performance -Aggressive commission plans (at least while I was there) -Commercial sales segment doing exceptionally well - most reps are far exceeding plan -Budding sales culture -Good alignment with marketing -Employees are friends with each other outside of the office

Cons

-More focus on looking good in front of the right people vs. actual performance -Executives will not own their mistakes, would rather offload blame and fire scapegoats -Dehumanizing, tyrant executives who will cut you off mid-sentence and bring down morale -Culture of judgment where you could be alienated for a mistake -Secretive, "big brother" leadership style where little info is shared with individual... contributors -Leadership style is "do as I say not as I do" -Short term decision making > long term decision making (e.g. win the logo at all costs instead of focusing on margin, activation and solution delivery) -Zero empathy for any personal struggles experienced outside of the office -No mechanism for management feedback -Struggles with moving up-market (particularly Flex) - top enterprise reps are not 100% of plan -Internal battles continue to ensue over account ownership -Most remaining employees I've personally spoken with are staying because they feel handcuffed by RSU vesting

Advice to Management

-Treat employees like people, trust, empower and encourage -Leave the Oracle/Salesforce cutthroat culture in the past - it's possible to aggressively grow a business and not leave dead bodies behind -Give employees & management constant feedback on performance, too little of this happens today -Get organized, too many employees using different systems for video conferencing, email/SFDC integration, slides,... etc -Continue to invest in start-ups and growth companies, some will grow into the next major accounts -Strike the balance of an aggressive, yet human sales culture

Pros

Great company - truly values diversity and autonomy at every level of the business. Supports employees through ongoing education, employee resource groups, volunteer opportunities, etc.

Cons

Still ironing out some growing pains due to the rapid, post-IPO growth they've endured.