Wunderkind Reviews

Pros

The office is at World Trade, nice views and makes for an easy commute

Cons

People managers and executive leadership are not equipped to lead a business. In September they conducted a round of layoffs that predominately impacted the Talent/HR teams. In the All Hands afterwards, they explained that the company had just scaled too fast. I should have left then after discovery the horrible mismanagement of leadership. Mind you, up until August, leadership was opening office outside the US, from Canada to Amsterdam. Then the layoffs occurred in September. In the following months, employees have been overworked and overwhelmed, particularly with the support required for holiday campaigns. Many of us have worked tirelessly, late into the evenings and even during Thanksgiving and through Black Friday/Cyber Monday where client managers were not allowed to take off in the event a client needed assistance. After BFCM, leadership kept reiterating record breaking performance (which were achieved with many of them on PTO for the holidays while their employees were kept working.) With the messages from leadership you would assume the business was doing alright. However, fast forward to right after the New Year, leadership conducted another round of layoffs the first week of January. Once they used their employees to get through the holidays, they cut us off immediately. Leadership here is a joke.

Pros

None that I can say anymore...

Cons

The company rewards senior people by firing them. If you want to stagnate as an employee with tenure/ experience/ skills/ monetarily -- Run. Get out of here while you can. Performance will only lead you to get fired down the line because you demand more pay, expect better compensation or even treatment for the terrible leadership changes that is amidst in this company. People have broke their backbone to stoop to those changes and get rewarded with letting go some of their best talent that have held the team together since day one of the company. All leadership is being taken over by another company and the only talk track for the plan to bring back the company is just staying afloat. Morale is the lowest it has ever been... and its only down from here.

Pros

There are many incredible individuals at the team level. There is still hope for a turnaround.

Cons

Leadership continues to fumble. It's a very closed group of incompetence. They give praise to DE&I efforts, but do everything they can to smother DE&I (by laying off key individuals focused on elevating DE&I). The mismanagement of company funds and people is astounding, very surprised executive leadership is still the same group, except for a few newcomers. They blame the teams for poor business performance, but the company has been without a clear sense of vision or goals for many years. Take a look at yourselves, leadership team.

Pros

The people and talent were awesome and you could always learn and improve.

Cons

Everyone on the team is always stressed due to management's incompetence. There is a real lack of ability to focus on the direction of the company. Layoffs and more layoffs are coming. Very unstable. Compensation is well below average as more and more cuts are made. And although I worked with some incredibly talented people across many teams, I absolutely do not recommend anyone to consider joining this company.

Pros

Wunderkind went from being one of the most incredible comanpies anywhere to being a place where nobody wants to be. The product is best in class and actually drives real revuene for our amazing client roster. We charge wayyy too much though! The real Wunderkinds are scared and hiding, hoping our real leaders return.

Cons

The Cheetah executives/guys? embarass themselves everytime they speak. You want a client to cancel, just have them to speak to the imposter ceo or cro. No one has any idea how they got here, and everyone including clients is praying for them to leave. No one wants to be here. No one supports the fake management team, it is a harvard case study how to ruin the best company in 6 months.

Pros

- Great, intelligent, hardworking co workers - beautiful office

Cons

I don't know where to begin. This company has changed so drastically over the last few years, it's not the same place it once was. It's lost a lot of what once made it a really special place to work. The company is trying to rewrite the real story of what's going on by publishing articles about new leaders, new funding etc but it's all too little too late. We are going to continue to lose critical top performing employees because leadership can't seem to screw their heads on straight and figure out how to get the train back on the track. Everyone is burnt out and feeling overwhelmed. I often wonder where and what human resources are doing to try to combat how deeply unsatisfied the majority of our employee base is. There's no innovation or anything new from a product standpoint to be excited about. It's day after day of putting out fires for clients and nothing ever improving. Even after layoffs, the company is still spending tens of thousands on over the top marketing events, conferences and retreats that have little to no ROI. It seems that no one at the top has learned their lesson and that we are just repeating the same old mistakes.

Pros

- It was industry leading marketing platform for a while - The office in NYC was amazing but now dead - Impressive customers roaster - Used to be a fun place to work

Cons

I don't know what happened last year, but the company took a nosedive. The new CEO is either unmotivated or incompetent. It's already been 6 months since he started, but things are only getting worse compared to last year when we had no CEO, 3 co-CEOs, and then the board chairman as the CEO. The rest of the leadership, composed of white men in their 30s, have never run a business of this size before and don't seem to be quick learners.

Pros

First and foremost, I must commend the company for having some of the best employees I have encountered in my professional career. The team comprises highly intelligent, friendly, helpful, and dedicated individuals who consistently go above and beyond their roles. Their hard work and commitment to the company's success are truly commendable.

Cons

Despite the remarkable talent and efforts exhibited by the employees, the leadership at Wunderkind has proven to be disappointingly inadequate. From the CEO down to the management level, the leadership team has demonstrated a lack of competence that is concerning, to say the least. It is disheartening to note that despite the CEO's arrival nearly six months ago, there has been little to no visible progress under his leadership. More alarming is his apparent failure to recognize the glaring issue of weak leadership within the organization. This lack of acknowledgment further exacerbates the problem, as it creates an environment where employees are afraid to voice their concerns or provide constructive feedback. The fear of being fired for speaking up stifles open communication and prevents the valuable insights and perspectives of the employees from reaching the leadership. One of the most troubling aspects is the leadership's tendency to dismiss high-performing individuals who hold opposing views to the leadership. This practice undermines the diversity of thought and discourages innovation within the company. Rather than embracing constructive criticism and different perspectives, the leadership chooses to remove those who challenge their ideas, leading to a stagnant and unproductive work environment. The firing of these high-performing individuals has been happening ever since the founder and previous leadership left the company over a year ago. Many had expectations that the new CEO would recognize this destructive pattern and make improvements. Unfortunately, the new CEO partnered with the existing incompetent leadership team, allowing these practices to continue unabated. This shortsighted approach has led to the destruction of the company and a significant loss of trust among employees. Because of that, I have to hide my title and job function in this review to protect myself. Moreover, the leadership team has shown a complete lack of understanding regarding the company's product and industry. They rely entirely on the knowledge and expertise of the employees working beneath them. Instead of actively seeking to understand the nuances of the product and industry, they simply take credit for the ideas and accomplishments of others. This practice not only undermines the hard work and contributions of the employees but also fosters a culture of mistrust and demotivation. The consequences of this lack of knowledge are evident in the company's latest promotional video, where the CEO had absolutely nothing substantial to say about the company and its products. It was an embarrassingly hollow display, highlighting the leadership's inability to comprehend the core aspects of the business they are supposed to lead. Moreover, the leadership team's lack of understanding has resulted in their inability to prevent clients from churning. Clients are leaving at a ridiculously fast pace, and the leadership team seems unable to stem the tide. This failure to retain clients jeopardizes the company's future and undermines its stability.

Pros

None, to be honest. I would never recommend this company.

Cons

This company has a garbage leadership that offers terrible compensation. There's really nothing worth staying for in this company, especially given how toxic and awful most of the managers are. None of our supervisors are ever helpful, and they only exist to harass and abuse us and give us orders. I would never recommend this company.

Pros

Used to be a fun place to work Good gym and health benefits Nice office (which they cannot afford)

Cons

Many people felt they were under-compensated for their work Layoffs and budget cuts destroyed morale Very little room to grow or pivot