Pros
I started working at Sharpdots right out of college in a design role and over the 4 years I worked there, also got involved in marketing and business development. The company provided a fast-paced work environment, with some engaging projects, unique challenges and a ton of opportunity to learn. I was able to work directly with CEO John who is a very strong and intelligent business leader with a sincere interest in helping you grow your professional abilities. I learned and grew a ton, and can directly attribute my current success in a managerial role to John and Sharpdots. Some of the other reviews on this site mention John as being abrasive and engaging in a lot of micromanaging - John may have a direct and blunt personality, but he was only challenging employees to find solutions, solve problems and ultimately make the company better. I can see how low-functioning employees who don’t have much interest in personal or company growth can see any challenge as the boss ‘being mean’ to them. With the new headquarters headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, the focus on a shift away from a print-focus business to design and marketing and someone as driven as John in charge, Sharpdots is definitely going to achieve some great things in the future and should be an exciting place to work for talented, high-level young people looking for a challenge.
Cons
Back when I worked there, the company was still in a transition phase from its old identity, which was a differently named company (Sari Art & Printing) run by John’s father Peter. The old identity, developed by Peter, included putting money first and employees and quality last. This attributed to most of the stress involved in the job: poor treatment of employees, the terrible toxic customers we had to deal with (usually Peter’s friends), having to deal with a lot of customer complaints, not having faith in the quality of the print products, low compensation and benefits and ultimately the high turnover rate. (As of 2019, I’m pretty sure Peter has retired.) John has been working hard to move the company away from this old toxic culture, and take it in a new direction. This will be one of the biggest changes necessary for making Sharpdots a better place to work, and an overall better business.