Course Hero

Nice people. Laid-back culture. Decent perks. Empathetic colleagues most times.

Very slim chances of an IPO. No talk of the same by execs. Whenever the question of an IPO comes up, it's shooed away. So, you just have base pay to survive on, which is getting incredibly difficult in these inflationary times.

I don't know if it's a push from the top down or just too much emphasis on DEI; folks who are sweet talkers are promoted. With all kinds of metrics available, it's so easy these days for higher-ups to see who's actually working and who's faking it. It's a bad sign when people who talk too much without bringing anything to the table are promoted. This isn't Google, who can afford those kinds of folks.

Too much attrition in the Product org and too many weak PMs.

Hiring too many people too fast. There's not enough work for engineers due to a weak Product org and a lack of initiatives. The company can't afford top-tier talent yet managers want to hire more engineers so they can show "growth" and be promoted.

Finally, the product itself. UI/UX sucks big time. The majority of students are complaining about the site being a scam. They lure students into a monthly subscription plan and then charge the whole year's amount upfront. In spite of a large number of complaints, they continue this practice, which gives a bad name to the company. In spite of investing heavily into branding, there are no results to show for it.

The company spends a lot on behavior training to eliminate bias, yet its effect is not seen in the decisions taken by mid-level managers. It's hard to change human behavior, and hence my advice to execs is to stop these forced efforts on DEI and just encourage merit.