Guidewire

Some smart people. Benefits are decent. The company has a good cash balance to burn.

The company is in the space of providing software to P&C insurers. It has undergone major changes, especially in product development. They wish to accelerate stagnated growth by executing too many things too quickly: SAAS, Cloud, and 3-month release cycles (from 18 months).

All recent initiatives are new to the company, which does not have any expertise, experience, or ideas in the technologies they are venturing into. The management is not cognizant of that fact. They need to bring in tech experts from outside. They tried to an extent but are resisted internally by old-timers who do not cooperate with new talent.

The middle and first-level management is terrible. They play favorites, manage by bullying, and give bad reviews. Managers thrive by managing up and do not help team members. They take care of themselves first and cover their backs first. As an employee, you are left alone, and you need to fight alone.

The other pain points for the company are: the core products are built on monolithic architecture. Competition is catching up fast by providing cheaper and better insurance software. This has sent alarm bells ringing to the top management.

The P/E ratio of the stock is 498, which indicates that the company is grossly overvalued. Investors are anticipating higher growth, and the earnings are meager when compared to the stock price.

If you are looking to work on exciting applications and cutting-edge technologies, this is not the place to be. But, if you want to play politics, use flattery, work on boring insurance software, and do some minimal work to get through, this maybe the company for you.

Value your people and care for them. Rethink your strategies.