Mismatch between what it is and what it presents itself to be - Sales BetterUp Employee Review

3.0
Jul 1, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Competitive Pay -You get your own executive coach - Some of the benefits are fantastic, especially Mat/Pat Leave - I’m passionate about coaching, and it was a blast to support clients to provide coaching to their people - The investment in science and analytics is the very best in the industry that I’ve seen - For a person in a phase of life who wants to work hard at a cutting edge company in a high intensity and competitive environment I believe this would be a really great fit -BetterUp will likely continue to have success because providing executive coaching at scale is something companies want and BetterUp is at forefront of this space

Cons

-One gets the sense from BetterUp’s online presence, hiring, and onboarding that this company would be a positive, coaching culture where people are passionate about coaching, who work hard but have decent work life balance. In reality, the internal coaching by managers is poor, and it is a cut throat, money focused, competitive & frenetic culture, with poor work life balance. -Unfortunately, because of the mismatch between what it presents itself to be in hiring and onboarding, and what it is, many people find themselves mismatched to the company.  -The turnover of employees is high. Colleagues have frequently confided in me a constant fear of being fired. Many people are burnt out. People get fed up and leave. Within a year most of my friends from my onboarding class are gone. A third of the people from my first team are gone. Several people from my team that was recently formed have left or put in their notice.  -Stress and internal change is high and comes from the top. While it’s presented as “startup” problems, I think in reality, a lot of the internal stress and change is created by Alexi’s frenetic leadership style. At nearly every all hands meeting during last year, Alexi would directly or indirectly threaten layoffs. The amount of internal change is relentless, and in my view, frequently unnecessary. The pressure is constantly high and that leads to short term thinking. All about this quarter’s results.  - Clients are negatively impacted by the high turnover of account managers. It's not uncommon that a client would have had 3+ account managers in the last 12 months. -Politics are a significant factor in how your career evolves at BetterUp. Working for a tenured member of the clan gives you a major leg up. I’ve seen stellar senior leaders and high performing individual contributors alike let go during my time here. High impact behaviors are weaponized against you when they want you out.

Explore other reviews about BetterUp

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I'm not held here against my will for a cause... I'm paid to do something I actually care about. I see a lot of people on Glassdoor debating the strength of the business model, but I've never seen anyone argue that what BetterUp is trying to do isn't worth doing. I'm a part of a company thats net positive for the world. That alone feels like a feat in 2026. AND I'm getting paid well. No "mission discount".

Cons

This isn't a money-growing-on-trees unicorn startup from 2018. This business model is hard. We're selling human potential development when most companies are trying to figure out how to replace humans with AI. Its not easy but I think its kind of important... A lot of people experience being overwhelmed here. Thats real. It happens enough that clearly the culture is playing a role. Every company has its own version of crazy. My advice to people thinking about working here: ask direct questions in your interviews to figure out if you're okay with Betterup's kind of crazy. You'll get honest answers. After 3+ years I've genuinely grown to love it

3
5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nearly 8 years in, and the work still pulls me forward. What keeps me at BetterUp is that the problems are genuinely hard and genuinely worth solving. I came from engineering, so I'm wired to care about infrastructure, not just features, and this is one of the rare places where you can build something foundational and actually see it move metrics, clear escalations, and unblock a whole go-to-market motion. The mission isn't decorative here. I can feel the thread between the work and the outcome. BetterUp also trusts you to figure things out across lanes. I've written SQL, prototyped with AI tools, facilitated workshops, and co-designed vendor strategy, all as a PM, because the culture doesn't penalize curiosity or reaching into adjacent territory. And honestly, some of my closest friendships came out of this place. The people I work with, on engineering, on cross-functional teams, and in peer mentorship, are people I genuinely learn from and, in some cases, people I can't imagine not having in my life. That combination of meaningful infrastructure work, real trust, and people who challenge you and become your people is not easy to find. The benefits span beyond general work-life-balance, if you're curious about something, there's always an open door to learn and contribute. As a woman in tech, I cherish the fact that our colleagues listen to women, and our insight is taken into account instead of just ignored. It's nice to feel safe at work, able to speak your mind freely.

Cons

If you want a boring job, this is not the place for you.

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