Vungle Reviews

Pros

- Recent presentation on our market share was fascinating, the industry is way bigger than I thought and I can see how we can still grow 10X from here which is rare for a company at $300M+ revenues
- Very strong tech hires over the last 12-18 months, new VP Eng looks good. Product leader is solid however need to hire more as we're under-resourced in many key areas
- Recent vision and story around Growth Engine for customers is something that actually sounds inspiring and audacious
- Finally seem to be recognizing talent and promoting more internally
- LTV post-install data that is collected and analyzed is impressive, especially with the focus on "auto-optimization"
- Recent Q1 goals are very exciting as it shows the company can innovate, whereas previous goals were only focused on revenue or infrastructure projects
- Recent product presentations have been energizing and it's great to see that we're less focused on "fixing tech debt" and are doing things to stay ahead of competitors
- Creative tech is definitely compelling but needs to be highlighted more, creative meta data tagging is cool but needs to make a bigger impact. Using AI to automatically tag creatives is a damn cool idea and I'm glad we're making steps in that direction.
- Dynamic templates looks promising but needs to scale further, probably can be more effective once placements is built out
- Offices around the world have similar cultures and are well decorated
- Leadership team is stronger compared to previous points in history
- Take more equity than salary if you have the choice, company is easier to value given the growing EBITDA, and worst case is likely to get acquired as it's the only independent start-up in the category.

Advice to Management

- A lot of talk about "building or acquiring a DSP" but nothing ever seems to happen on that front. It's clear that's the next logical step so why are we so lethargic on this topic?
- Why isn't there an option to sell secondary stock? It's a common practice at other companies. It would be great for more tenured employees to get some cash as SF is expensive.
- I know some folks are afraid of change and complain every time something big happens but every damn change that's been made so far has been well calculated. Don't be afraid to make more changes. Do the right thing for the company. Some of the employees are very passionate and loyal, and want to see this thing get bigger.
- We have barely grown headcount over the last year or so, yet the revenues and profits are growing like crazy. Isn't it time to make some bolder moves and invest like we did in 2015?

Pros

Love the team, love the perks, and overall happiness.

Pros

Not enough positives to outweigh the negatives. And I put that sentence there since Glassdoor has a 20 word minimum. If that wasn't a requirement then I wouldn't even bother.

Advice to Management

None

Pros

Lots of fun off-sites.
Lots of young people who want to spend time with each other.
Gaming consoles and arcade games in the office.
Phone booths are cool to have private conversations or remote meetings
Bungalows are nice to have meetings in or to collaborate on projects.
Gym reimbursement policy and the Vungle exchange program.
Catered lunches with a food budget on days that it isn't catered.

Advice to Management

Get rid of the dirty politics. This company is far too small to have such backstabbing. You are making money, give raises and promote people. When you do reviews, included the success that people accomplish and not just the last mistake that they made. Train your managers and directors how to properly run a team and assess performance rather than going on just rumors or whoever complains the loudest. Stop playing favorites and stop firing or laying off people who are working hard. If someone is underperforming give them a mentor or help them perform better by giving honest and consistent feedback. Also, stop calling people engineers who aren't actually doing any coding.

Pros

Team is very engaged and wants to do the right thing. In a great space and executing very well in spite of challenges.

Advice to Management

Keep the momentum for improvement

Pros

Good balance between being able to create new things from the ground up, and iterate on existing process, infrastructure, strategies that have already been successful to scale a business. Each person's work matters every day. It's a major reason I joined.

Leadership is committed to developing all levels of employees in all areas of the company through customized career development plans for each employee. That's backed up financially as well.

People are often looking for start-ups or earlier stage companies that they can put their mark on, have a chance to make a large impact on an industry, and are financially viable (profitable). Vungle offers this to every employee in spades.

The past - Vungle has experienced challenging times in the past. Those that have persevered and come out the other side have had a massive impact on the culture in a positive way. With the success we are now experiencing people are more understanding of how rare that opportunity is in a career and are fighting everyday to take advantage of it. This is a culture where focusing on what can be done, and taking initiative to fix broken windows when you see them is a tangible part of the culture you experience every day.

Advice to Management

The engineering team has seen a good amount of change in the last 18 months. Simon will bring some great stability to the organization, and continuing to emphasize our success and opportunity to that group in a way that resonates is going to fundamental to our long term success. I have all the confidence in the world that this is a top priority for Leadership, and will be figured out.

Pros

+ Liberal with Responsibility: People are given responsibility if they are able to prove efficacy. Personally I've been asked to do things that I was some what under qualified to do. The company trusted me and things got done.

+ Career Growth: I've have 4 promotions in 3 years. As the company grows this will slow down but since the business shows no signs of slowing down, I don't see how we wont promote others as well.

+ Colleagues actually like each other: Unlike other "high growth startups" Vungle has a strange culture where people hang out after work and on the weekends together. This freaked me out at first but I've grown to love that. Personally I've referred 10 friends and had 4 hired.

+ International: We have 7 international offices. I've traveled all over the US, Asia, Europe and Latin America because of Vungle.

+ Benefits: Most underrated thing here. Insane perks to cover things like meals, transport, etc. Because of this I can go to work and not have to worry about basic daily issues.

Advice to Management

> The company is almost 200 not 2000, make sure policies aren't built for a much larger company.

> Connect International Offices: The company is growing internationally, make sure to put effort and resources on connecting them.

> Celebrate: As the company continues to break records, make sure that celebrations happen. This has slowed down.

Pros

1. Vungle has grown revenue exponentially over the last year and is one of the giants within in app video. Tons of room for growth personally and company-wide. Exciting time to be part of company with truly explosive growth.
2.Unparalleled opportunities for international travel, exposure to different cultures, and understanding of emerging markets.
3. Highly autonomous work environment with very trusting management in most departments.
4. Some of the best perks in SV. you have to be here to believe it.

Advice to Management

Continue to keep culture "fun" and start-up vibe as we scale.
Keep investing in product and engineering to help us get to that next level of growth.
Ensure all departments are held equally accountable and report back to the entire company on progress to goals.

Pros

- Established leadership in COO and sales
- Opportunities to travel domestically and internationally
- Visibility into management objectives and goals
- Feedback culture. Management and peers provide positive and constructive feedback regularly.

Advice to Management

Keeping mapping out career progression routes for ICs!

Pros

- Culture supports a really friendly and collaborative environment
- Insanely great perks including the standards plus phone plan, paid international travel, lyft/uber transportation
- A "Do, Don't Ask" atmosphere. They support action over complacency
- If you're actually effective at what you do, you will get recognized and pushed forward
- The company is doing extremely well in the industry. Numbers-wise, everything is in the positive.

Advice to Management

Keep managers accountable. Right now, the managers' goals are more about getting projects done or hitting a specific sales goal, but their performance should also be tied to employee retention. They are at the frontline in the war for employee happiness. Give them the tools to succeed and make sure they take care of the people in their teams.