Dying Company with No Cohesive Vision - Anonymous employee 500px Employee Review

1.0
Mar 20, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Like most unpleasant tech companies, there are always great team members doing their part to fix things. - Limited ability to work with cutting-edge technologies, specifically Machine Learning Models and AI-enabled Featuresets. - Salary and benefits were at the market rate, but I doubt that will last.

Cons

- After the Visual China Group (VCG) acquisition, the marketplace revenue stream was killed due to a non-compete with Getty Images. Photographers now make pennies for their incredible work because Getty has commodified stock photography. - Users are leaving the platform in droves. The CEO loves monthly data sharing with the team, but it's wildly depressing to listen to despite his reassurances that it's all ok. - There's no product-market fit due to shutting down this revenue stream, and the company needs to pivot. Leadership knows this, but it isn't going well because of VCG's and the CEO's feeble vision. - VCG has development teams based out of Wuhan, which led to the product, design, and development team members in North America being let go, and those roles were shipped to Wuhan on the cheap.

Explore other reviews about 500px

5.0
May 5, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

500px has been an amazing place for me to grow personally and professionally. The senior management really cares about investing in the staff. There's huge opportunity to come and grow the company itself, too. It's truly a place where culture is put on the highest pedestal, and bringing new people in is taken very seriously to preserve the awesome team we have.

Cons

I've seen a lot from being here for over two years. As our CEO focused on growing out the exec team there was turbulence in figuring out what our focus should be and how we are going to get there. The great news is I can honestly say we're in a solid place now, and are putting in the foundations to get us to where we need to be.

2
avatar
500px Response
8y
Thank you for the feedback and review. We've been making an effort to really invest in the development and fulfillment of our people. Have been making a consistent effort to keep reiterating our vision and mission, thank you for the reminder! - Andy
5.0
Feb 8, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Amazing product on web and mobile - get to look at world-class photography all day long Passionate community with over 7 million members Great team, hardworking, people who really care No meeting Thursdays to give time to innovate and create - Focus on being a global business and hiring accordingly - employees speak 14 languages

Cons

Have teams in both San Francisco & Toronto so need to be attuned to working across time zones and locations Lots of change typical for a growing start-up - doesn't suit those looking for more predictable jobs, but creates lots of opportunity for those who want to make their mark

1
avatar
500px Response
8y
Thanks for the review - agree with all your comments. It's an amazing opportunity we have here at 500px to combine the passion for photography and technology. We will improve our mindfulness for team members in different locations - thanks for the feedback and reminder! - Andy
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