Be Careful - Anonymous employee A3Ventures Employee Review

1.0
Nov 17, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Smart team of people who actually execute (level 1 teammates) New building with food (although they wasted millions on it)

Cons

I have never been so disgusted with company leadership and values in my entire life. Anyone at a Level 3 (VP+) and above lack people skills and micromanage to a whole new level. People are promoted based on personal preference, so if you have a good relationship with the L3 team, you will get a promotion. If you are talented but leadership prefers their friends or "boys", you will never be acknowledged or given an opportunity for career growth. Not to mention, the whole level 1-5 system is archaic and they are missing the whole reason of having an innovation lab. They will tell you that you can come in and be innovative, have autonomy, and help grow the business, but that is a lie. Once in, level 3 and above micromanage the team to the point where they become uninspired. Even if you have a manager in between you and leadership, you will still experience the toxic culture. They will say they are working on it and hold forced all team meetings, but in over a year I have only seen it get significantly worse. Turnover is awful, they are constantly losing talented people due to the culture. There are almost no women in leadership positions and it is clear the "boys club" is much more respected and given the time of day.

Explore other reviews about A3Ventures

5.0
Aug 7, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Room to innovate and a supportive culture.

Cons

Upward mobility was not clear.

5.0
Feb 8, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I joined A3V in January 2019. The negative reviews mostly focused on AAA being a legacy company and unable to have an innovate arm. In my limited experience, I would say that is misleading criticism. AAA is not Apple, Google or Amazon if that was the expectation then you will probably be disappointed. But, the fact that a 100 year old organization realizes that it needs to innovate to survive the next 100 years is testament to the firms’ leadership. That said, there is a different risk appetite and innovation is centered on the value it can provide Members (AAA card holders). Developing an app or hardware probably doesn’t fit the bill although it may have great potential. If you join the organization with that perspective, you will have ample opportunities to test your innovative abilities. I may have a unique perspective given that my role interacts with almost all ventures in the lab - there are a lot of smart, hardworking employees with vision who are given creative space to make them a reality assuming they fit strategically. Not every idea will be met with fanfare, but such is innovation. I do not want to give the impression that everything at A3V is sunshine and rainbows, you are expected to work hard and deliver but since you expect to be paid to do a job that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Cons

Still operates like a 100 yr old company, but the CEO is engaged and is open to rethinking everything if it makes sense.

3
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