They try to be good but fall short in a number of areas - Software Engineer Simple Fractal Employee Review

2.0
Jun 1, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Opportunity to learn on different projects -Reasonable hours for most of the time -Co-founders try hard to do their best on many different fronts but seem to be spread too thin

Cons

-There is a lack of culture. No one really seemed to have fun being there. I sure did not enjoy the culture, if you could call it that. -The compensation is laughably bad, considering the market today. If you're coming out of bootcamp, this would be a good place to learn but given the market today, you'd be better off starting elsewhere -Everything is time tracked and there are reviews every 3 weeks, adding to stress and employee unhappiness. -They say that you have the opportunity to get a raise every 3 months but that is absolutely a ploy to attract unknowing and unexperienced bootcamp grads into taking a subpar pay for a stressful work environment. Absolutely do not expect to get a raise every 3 months. For how difficult they make getting the "promotions", you could easily get 20-40k more somewhere with a better and more fun culture to work.

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Simple Fractal Response
7y
Thank you for your feedback! We're sorry to hear that you feel this particular way about our company culture. I hope to clarify some things in this response for future potential readers. As a small company, we try our absolute best to ensure *all* our employees are happy and feel appreciated. As for 'no one really seemed to have fun', I can assure you this is not the case. I as a current employee can personally testify to this. In regards to compensation, we updated our compensation structure to be more competitive. Lastly, Simple Fractal aims to provide a stress free work environment. We offer unlimited PTO and our CEO operates the company to ensure all employees can have a healthy work-life balance. Again, we appreciate your feedback and we will continue to make improvements per your recommendations. It is unfortunate that this was your experience at Simple Fractal.

Explore other reviews about Simple Fractal

5.0
Nov 5, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Often the work feels very impactful - The other engineers are hard-working, curious, driven and collaborative - To a certain extent, everyone is welcome to express opinions and shape the direction of the company. - Founder/CEO is dedicated, down-to-earth, and intelligent. - Fully remote and I found WLB expectations to be healthy.

Cons

- Often working on legacy code and with clients who are limited in technical understanding and maturity. - Growth path involves more interfacing with clients (i.e. at this time there is less of a purely technical growth track). This could be a good thing for some as that client-facing time was extremely beneficial to my growth in the non-technical areas of SWE (communication skills, prioritization skills, etc.). But worth noting.

5.0
Dec 1, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great support for new engineers. This was my first job as a professional developer and I was given the tools and mindset to succeed. - Clear steps for becoming a force multiplier. If you want to have impact beyond executing on software requirements as handed to you, this is the place for you. - Objective, regular opportunities to increase compensation via performance reviews. These are advertised as achievable during the interview process, and this is indeed the case. - Feedback from employees is taken seriously and acted upon.

Cons

Take the following cons with a grain of salt - they may be considered pros by some. - You will be expected to demonstrate growth and be proactive about improving aspects of the company, from software development processes to company culture. This can be uncomfortable for those who would rather not take initiative, or blend in. - Client facing work can add additional surface area for responsibility/stress that you may not want. You have control over this to *some* degree.

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