Pros
The following feedback is based on my personal experience and observations and may not cover certain areas that may be purely specific in particular roles. The intention is to share the experience of how it felt to work at LiveEO, and perhaps, complement someone’s decision about potential employment by LiveEO. Some “food for thought” :) Company Culture and Team. - LiveEO is an international team of people of different ages, diverse backgrounds and experiences. - Depending on an internal team, young professionals may get a chance to receive guidance and assistance from their peers. - There are professional and open colleagues in the team who are happy to provide support, share their perspectives, and offer advice which contributes positively to the team atmosphere. Professional Development Opportunities. - The dynamic nature of a start-up introduces opportunities to develop a wide range of skills and knowledge pretty fast if being proactive, self-initiative enough and having the right attitude. There is an opportunity to take ownership of problems and solutions, as well as responsibility for decisions and results. - Although LiveEO did not offer a fixed “development budget” option, it was still manageable to negotiate financial support for learning activities on an individual basis. However, this process typically requires consideration and approval by the Leadership team and not necessarily by the direct manager / team lead of an employee. Company Vision Execution. - LiveEO has an interesting mission, with an intended purpose for safer and better management of critical infrastructure networks with the help of Earth Observation (EO) Data and Geospatial Technologies. This could be an interesting opportunity for those who enjoy the Geospatial industry and innovations and are ready to accept the challenge of adopting Earth Observation solutions across various markets and real-world scenario applications. Leadership and Management. - Transforming ideas into a business, whether in the EO or any other market, is a complex task that requires certain personal and professional qualifications. Some people name it “entrepreneurship”. While there are many different ways to understand and define entrepreneurship, I believe “willingness to take a risk” is among the key driving forces. This quality is something I believe deserves a moment of recognition and respect in the founders of LiveEO. However, “taking a risk” is not equivalent neither to “leadership” nor to “success”. Once the risk is taken, the most important part is execution. I would recommend that LiveEO focus particular attention and effort on this area. - The leadership team is trying to maintain accessibility for all employees, regardless of their level within the company. This openness may not always be seen in mid-sized and large enterprises due to complex corporate hierarchies, and even some start-ups, therefore, it is worth highlighting.
Cons
I hope LiveEO will take the liberty to consider cons as areas for improvement and are self-aware to avoid defensive statements. Company Culture and Team. - The way in which the company lets people go reveals a lot about its culture. LiveEO opts for a “burning bridges” approach. A lack of consideration for how certain behaviours impact future opportunities and potential paths to yet unrealized destinations. The Geospatial market is a very close community and there is a very high likelihood of crossing paths with someone whom you have burned bridges with :)) It takes courage to rebuild bridges, and intelligence to build new bridges. - LiveEO claims the company welcomes diversity and inclusion across genders, nationalities, backgrounds and ages which is true to a certain extent or at certain levels of influence within the company. There have been instances where work and ideas were treated differently or undervalued simply because the contributor was too young or a female in a group of middle-aged males. These types of statements can often be seen as subjective or driven by individual perception characteristics (which sometimes may be the case). However, the fact is undeniable when observed or experienced in a series of situations by different people. The composition of the LiveEO leadership team consists primarily of Germans, purely male-dominated. While there may be attempts to change this, I hope the intention is not to have a C-level female on the team for the sake of formality and compliance with modern societal trends, but a strong professional with a proven ability to successfully execute on this level. - LiveEO experienced several waves of layoffs. There are some patterns of a “hiring-firing” culture when LiveEO rapidly doubled its size in less than a year, and then proceeded with extreme decisions of letting a certain chunk of people go. Professional Development Opportunities. - While each individual employee holds responsibility for their own professional development and success, the role of the work environment in this process should not be underestimated. The constant chaotic nature and over-demanding attitude toward team members of LiveEO created a space for burnout and inconsistent career development. Unfortunately, there have been cases of severe clinical burnout among the LiveEO colleagues. - For a pretty long time, performance reviews and employee development plans did not exist and received no attention at LiveEO. It started to change very slowly towards the end of 2023, and may still be evolving. The key observation is that: the employees who maintain close relationships directly with the founders are granted with significantly higher probability for promotion compared to those who rely on the promotion process based on their contributions and performance metrics. - Promotion in the title may not necessarily be accompanied by a raise in compensation. But at least an “I am thrilled to announce” post on LinkedIn may look cool :)) Company Vision Execution. - LiveEO continues chasing many shining objects, struggling to develop and execute on a cohesive strategy. LiveEO is going after / denying market opportunities without adequately discovering economic and market drivers to guide their decisions. Leadership and Management. - Micromanagement. Even with the best intentions, excessive supervision by LiveEO C-level colleagues on non-strategic subjects does not scale and does not contribute to the relationship of trust. - Organizational transparency starts at the top with leadership. LiveEO lacks honest communication and clarity, particularly on the “hard” decisions and uncomfortable situations. The layoff process provided an opportunity to observe how LiveEO handles difficult situations at the highest level: the messages and reasons delivered to those being let go, how these decisions are communicated with the remaining team members, and whether the decision-makers can own their choices while recognizing their mistakes. At LiveEO, I observed the fear of the truth that may trigger undesirable waves internally within a team, and potentially leak externally, damaging the company's reputation. Side Note: Not sure how this could be possible, but some of the feedback (particularly negative) for LiveEO, which used to be visible just a few months ago, is no longer displayed. This could be due to either Glassdoor permitting companies to delete feedback in some way, or the author(s) may have removed their own comments. Just an interesting observation as the reduction in negative comments leads to an increase in the overall company rating here on Glassdoor.
