High-Ownership Applied AI Company with Silicon Valley Ambitions - Anonymous employee Podium Employee Review

This has been a great place to work. It can be a lot of pressure, which is probably right on the cusp where some find the pressure to be compelling, and others find it toxic. So, I get why some people may justifiably not like it. Not sure if there's a definitive line between toxic and compelling. But, I personally have found it compelling. The constant challenge pushes me and has helped me avoid complacency. There's always a new challenge and something new to learn. I have a lot of confidence in the leadership, both middle management and exec. To be transparent, I'm distant enough from execs that I'm isolated from any rumored drama or toxicity. But, I've been here for a while and have never experienced any of the rumored toxicity in my infrequent direct interactions with leadership. They make mistakes, but any time mistakes are made, they are pretty quick to learn from them and right the ship.

It's a lot less fun than it used to be. There used to be a lot more lighthearted fun and silliness in the culture. There used to be a lot more jokes and casual conversation in Slack and heckling in town hall. Thankfully the work is still fulfilling. Just... not very fun anymore. The pressure can be a lot. It requires a bit of thick skin. The pressure is good to push you beyond what you think is possible. But, you have to be able to be honest with yourself and management to be able to communicate reality when the expectations are completely unreasonable. I honestly think it's a good culture. But, only if you can find the balance between allowing yourself to be pushed to learn and improve, and being able to effectively communicate and pushback to prevent burnout. It would be miserable for those that are too scared to surface issues to management or push back on other teams. And it can't just be whining. Frankness and honestly is good (and in my experience, has always been appreciated). Whining is not helpful or good.

Cool office building, learn from some of the best sales reps you’ll come across in your career

I worked at podium for a few years. It was the most toxic sales culture I’ve ever experienced. I do not say that lightly It was worth the money a year/two plus ago. They raised quotas multiple times in the last year and decreased the commission percentages. It is wild how many hoops an ae had to jump through to close a deal. In my 7+ of being in sales it was probably the hardest sale to close and I was a top rep. If you want to join podium it could be a good learning experience but it will come with a lot of headaches, anxiety about job security (they pip sales reps out like no other company I’ve ever worked for) and maybe some tears