Poor Leadership, Rushed Projects, and Constant Stress - Open & Honest Specialist StartEngine Employee Review

1.0
Mar 14, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Coworkers were solid hard working people.

Cons

The environment was overwhelmingly stressful, with a culture that prioritized speed over quality. Projects were frequently pushed out prematurely despite clear warnings from the team that they weren’t ready. Leadership valued meeting deadlines over delivering a functional product, leaving employees frustrated and overworked. If you told management something they didn’t want to hear, they would become visibly upset. A common conversation among employees was, “How are you dealing with the stress?” Employees regularly voiced concerns about excessive workloads and management’s disregard for work-life balance. It wasn’t uncommon for team members to have multiple projects dumped on them with no consideration for their existing responsibilities. East Coast employees, in particular, were often contacted late at night or on weekends, as if boundaries didn’t exist. One of the most frustrating aspects of working here was the company’s empty emphasis on being “open and honest.” In practice, it felt more like “closed and vague.” Leadership routinely withheld information and made confusing, last-minute decisions, leaving employees in the dark. During the holidays and right before bonuses, they laid off 25% of their workforce after a mass hiring spree just a few months earlier. That’s outright cold and inept leadership. I wouldn’t recommend working here.

Explore other reviews about StartEngine

5.0
Oct 13, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I learned a lot about a lot of different areas

Cons

Nothing negative to say about StartEngine

1.0
Apr 16, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some ICs and managers are really great and intelligent people.

Cons

Easily the shadiest company I’ve ever worked for, both in how they treat their customers and how they treat their employees. Like another review mentioned, they are not transparent. There were multiple rounds of layoffs while I was there, and severance was two or three weeks. Most of the leadership team has little real leadership experience, and it shows. Many people seem to have been placed into VP or senior roles simply because they had been there a long time, not because they had proven management or leadership ability. There is also no Human Resources department, so there is no neutral place to report concerns, workplace issues, or questionable business practices. Problems often go unaddressed. Their go-to excuse for poor organization and mismanaged teams is that it's because that's the nature of a startup, but they’ve been around long enough that this no longer holds up. There’s a difference between expecting a lot from employees and disrespecting them. StartEngine crosses that line regularly.

3
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