Unigen Reviews

The CEO said he wanted to position Unigen as an ODM by opening a design center in Austin for the purpose of delivering data center server and storage solutions. We were told that we had x-amount of money and y-amount of years to deliver, but instead most of the staff was continually pulled off this effort to work on side projects. The lack of focus was frustrating and stressful for the entire design team and management. Even though some of these side projects actually ended up with working hardware in the lab, the business agreements were so mismanaged, nothing materialized in terms of revenue stream. The COO left for the Philippines for several months due to personal reasons, but did not stay in contact nor leave anyone else to fill in for her while she was gone. As a result, a backlog of critical decisions built up until she returned to the states. We operated without a budget. Seriously. So when money was flowing into the company, purchases were approved without question, but as revenue slowed so did the approvals. It got so bad that nearly every purchase request was scrutinized and delayed by the CFO (who did not comprehend the development costs required to develop, build and test data center equipment), costing untold thousands of dollars in priority shipping to try and maintain any semblance of a schedule. When money got really tight (eggs in one basket syndrome), the entire team minus one director was laid off. While this is understandable given the financial situation, how they treated the team when we were no longer needed was not. These were people who worked incredible hours with no overtime because they took pride in what they do. The severance package? What a joke. Processes were broken or non-existent, so a lot of effort and energy was being expended on creating or correcting basic company function. I agree with the other post. Worst company I've ever worked for.

This is the most mismanaged company for which I have ever had the misfortune to work, from startups to Fortune 100 behemoths. There is a great lack of discipline in general management practices as well as terribly inefficient business processes. Executive management (the married owners) apparently fail to trust the talented people they are fortunate enough to hire to guide the business. Smart leaders hire to fill their own gaps; the owners attempt to do that, then routinely eliminate those people when they don’t like what they hear. There was no real understanding of or appreciation for the high-powered talent that they were fortunate to find and hire for their new venture. The engineering team invested over a year of 10-16 hour days, making incredible progress on both planned and unplanned projects. But in the end, when it was deemed necessary to abruptly close the office, there was no severance for anyone. There was a tragic lack of regard shown for the dedication and sacrifice made by those who strived to make the company's new venture a success. Work-life balance was non-existent, despite early promises of a wholesome, well-balanced work environment. Discipline is desperately lacking in regard to customer interactions; promises made without first understanding the effort, time, and cost of delivering product, resulting in frustrated customers that ultimately bolt, leaving wasted resources in their wake. The CEO was prone to chasing the latest shiny object, resulting in the misuse and misapplication of resources, which in turn lead to missed market opportunities, as planned projects were starved for those critical resources. This company will have difficulty thriving under these persistent conditions – angering and losing valuable customers, discarding talented and devoted employees, and failing to truly understand what it takes to run a business responsibly.