25% positive business outlook
Pros
Pivot is a tight-knit group of talented people who genuinely care about the product, mission, and each other.
Cons
The pay isn't very competitive with other tech startups in Silicon Valley. Additionally, the company has always been an inch away from running out of money as the product isn't profitable.
Pros
Pivot has a worthy mission to help people quit tobacco. As an employee, hearing testimonies of people who successfully quit tobacco using the program was very rewarding and motivating. There was no shortage of work and challenges to be accomplished, and I gained a lot of new skills as a result. After the pandemic, I worked remotely and within a small team. The people I worked with were high quality, had integrity and got things done. My work was highly independent so interactions outside the core team was low. This could be a con for some but fine for me.
Cons
As of 2024, there are headwinds to be overcome, not insurmountable, but enough where I had to be let go in a reduction in workforce. Not fun getting let go and the only one from my team, but I have no hard feelings as I know that this is always a possibility with start ups and small companies.
Pros
Remote work. Creative people who care.
Cons
Extremely poor leadership with no vision for long-term goals. Management lacks strategic direction and fails to support employee growth. The work environment is chaotic, with unclear priorities and inconsistent guidance, making it frustrating to contribute meaningfully. Mismanagement has led to sudden layoffs affecting countless employees, with no warning or accountability. Leadership is hypocritical—claiming to care about health and wellness while disregarding the wellbeing of their own employees. Favoritism is evident, as family members are kept on payroll despite these decisions, further eroding trust and morale.
Pros
There are a lot of smart people working at Pivot, and generally speaking the culture is pretty relaxed. The company does a good job including remote employees and there are a lot of opportunities to work cross-functionally. Overall the mission of the company is incredible, and there is a laser-focus on that mission at every level.
Cons
Leadership at Pivot is inconsistent and at times volatile, and is driven by the CEO and COO. Within the span of a few hours, 80% of the sales team was let go this past winter. In the months that followed the CEO ostensibly managed the sales function and did not close a single deal. Throughout this period the sales projections varied wildly, as did transparency around the process. Pivot also lacks a formal peer review process, which likely contributes to the inequities in performance between teams. A consistent problem at the company is that underperformers remain, while top talent tends to leave. This feedback has been delivered to HR and the COO, but their response was that we are too small of a company to implement a 360 review process.
Pros
The culture here is amazing. The company is very mission-driven to help more people quit smoking. Everyone is also super nice and easy to work with.
Cons
Non that I can think of
Pros
Kind people, interesting DTC go-to-market learnings
Cons
Managers play favorites, lack of technical creativity, people view this sometimes as a 9-5
Pros
Some smart people in middle management trying to make things work. Interesting projects when you're not constantly scrambling to keep up with changing priorities.
Cons
Senior Leadership is a disaster. They overreached in every aspect, making unrealistic decisions that ultimately led to massive layoffs. It’s clear they didn’t have a long-term strategy and were flying by the seat of their pants. The company culture is pure chaos compared to other tech startups. There's no sense of stability or direction, and it feels like the company is always in crisis mode. Priorities are constantly shifting without any clear communication from the top. No communication from senior leadership about the company's direction or vision. When big decisions were made, we were left in the dark, often hearing about them after the fact. It felt like they were making decisions in isolation with no regard for the impact on the employees. Unrealistic work expectations were the norm. You’re expected to be available 24/7 with no work-life balance. Even though salaries are below average, the workload is overwhelming, and it’s impossible to keep up without burning out. The salary is below industry standard for the amount of work and stress involved. It’s hard to justify staying when you’re underpaid and overworked.
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