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Great Comp, Toxic Culture

Software Engineer
Former Employee
Worked at Bilt for 2 years
January 22, 2025
New York, New York
2.0
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo CEO Opinion
Pros

Comp and people. A skeleton crew of the best in every category pumping out features. I am glad that I worked at Bilt. I am also glad that I no longer work at Bilt.

Bilt is a special company and works every day as if it was the last to solve real problems. I hope that Bilt continues to grow and succeed.

Cons

Continuous micromanagement and thrash. You will be worked to the bone, and you will be uncomfortable the whole time in the inappropriately cramped office space.

In earlier years, the pain was worth it because of Bilt’s phenomenal growth. The atmosphere even added a level of endearment to the company.

More recently, it feels like the engine is spinning its wheels. The company has a toxic culture around performance.

Like many other people I talked to, I thought that every day I worked at Bilt could be the last day. Everyone walked on eggshells around the executives because if you got on their bad side, you would disappear.

In the early days, this was, in a sense, a plus. Paper pushers were sniffed out and removed quickly, and everyone earned their fair weight in shares. However, there was also no transparency and clear disorganization and inconsistency at the corporate level around managing comp and performance as a whole. It gave you anxiety.

Having said all this, comp was fair, and they took care of people.

If Bilt can't keep growing to make the equation work for its staff, their culture will backfire.

Advice to Management

Stop doing daily wins – it won’t fix your problems. It's a huge distraction from proper planning and management.

Also, the back-weighted equity vesting schedules are scaring new talent away. After reading these reviews, why would anyone risk working like a dog to either be fired after a year or burn out with nothing to show for it? Using the back-weighting as a carrot for retention misses the mark and is rightfully off-putting as a sign of what is in store.

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