Toxic work culture - Account Executive Persona Identities Employee Review

2.0
5 Jun 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

• Innovative platform. Constantly iterating and delivering incremental value add to customers. • Great onboarding framework for new employees. • Challenging but fair sales quota targets

Cons

• Toxic culture of micromanagement and lack of trust that is masked within the 'Work in Public' company value. • No work-life balance. GTM leadership has little respect for personal time and habitually contacts employees late at night and on weekends - expecting immediate replies. Speed and urgency are more important than employee wellbeing. • Inexperienced leadership - many first-timers in their respective roles. • Being a product-driven organization, the Sales team is also forced towards a communication style focused on writing/documentation - which takes way more back-and-forth to get things done - many things that could be settled over a 5min Zoom call get dragged on for days. • Poor use/implementation of internal sales tools. • Inadequate geographic distribution of supporting GTM teams which makes day-to-day work challenging if you're not based in San Francisco • Travel is required on weekends as they frequently schedule company events in San Francisco on Mondays and late on Fridays - not taking into account the needs of remote employees that need to travel. • Demoting people from AE to SDR roles. • Compensation Plan drastically changes every quarter. • Decreased employee benefits in 2023

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Persona Identities Response
3y
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. We appreciate your positive comments about our platform, onboarding framework, and fair sales quota targets. That said, we are sorry to hear that this was your experience at Persona. We pride ourselves to deliver incredible service to our customers and prospects. And as a startup, this sometimes means a more demanding work environment for our go-to-market function. Regardless, it is on us to be a responsible and caring employer. We take all constructive feedback seriously and welcome you to contact our HR team to discuss your suggestions for improvement at any time. We wish you the best.

Explore other reviews about Persona Identities

5.0
29 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I'm very happy working at Persona! One thing I really appreciate that I think is pretty unique is that design sits independently as its own organization at Persona. That independence creates a strong appreciation of craft and advocacy for thoughtful design at the company. Also leadership within the design org is the best. They have a "lead by serving" mentality. It's very low ego culture since our leaders model humility and service that sets the tone for the team culture. I feel invested in and I feel like the work I produce is often higher in quality as a result. The team culture is by far the biggest strengths. There is a strong culture of learning from one another, sharing work, exploring new tools, and continuously improving the craft – these are all things that I motivates me in a work environment which makes the role feel meaningful and energizing. Things move pretty fast at Persona so the impact feels really high here. The work we do often has a direct and visible influence on how things are implemented and I find that to be really rewarding on the brand side of things.

Cons

The pace can be fast, so there are times when priorities evolve quickly and you have to be comfortable adapting. As an IC it does require flexibility and strong communication. But I know my managers are aware of this and are actively working toward more thoughtful, sustainable, long-term planning which I deeply appreciate

1.0
3 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* People I interviewed with/met were intelligent, seemed like they cared, solid product. Interview process was thorough and clear.

Cons

Extended offers to new grads in November, then rescinded 75% of those offers in April two months before our start date. Laughably unprofessional and their email explaining their reasoning was even more laughable. If you're going to graduate college soon and you want to work for a company that will waste six months of your time in perhaps the most pivotal months of the recruiting cycle so you're left with nothing post-grad, then don't hesitate to apply to Persona.

3
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