Pros
I worked at VIZIO a few years ago, and I have followed them closely since I left the company. There were many good people that sacrificed work-life balance for the benefit of the company, and there was excitement as we drove substantial unit and revenue growth in spite of incompetent and unethical leadership. VIZIO has a unique and interesting business model that outsources most of the work and shifts most of the risk to vendors/partners. The company often felt like a family-run business, small enough to allow employees to make a difference. The company operates in a fun and interesting industry, and offers substantial discounts on TVs, extending special pricing to family and friends.
Cons
It’s been painful to witness VIZIO’s decline over the past few years. VIZIO’s customers felt betrayed as multiple shortcuts, violations and misrepresentations were publicly exposed through various class action lawsuits and a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. After VIZIO’s multiple attempts to leverage their TV brand into new products/services failed, VIZIO attempted to take the company public, but investors showed a lack of interest. A Chinese company LeEco made an acquisition offer but that was withdrawn. Now, they are pinning their hopes on Inscape, considered by many a trojan horse that monitors and sells what consumers are watching. VIZIO finally recognized that some of the senior executives were acting in their own best interests, and they are no longer with the company. The future of VIZIO is highly uncertain and it wouldn’t surprise me if they filed for bankruptcy protection or are forced to sell out of desperation in the next year or so.