Good benefits, bad leadership and direction. Please be better. - Anonymous employee Zello Employee Review

1.0
Jun 20, 2022
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The Zello Work product and mission is an awesome thing to be a part of. Good benefits are offered for such a small company as well. They have some middle managers that really care and try to make a difference.

Cons

There's lots to be said here, however I'll try to keep it to the main points. 1. The Zello free app: Zello wants to somehow flaunt the number of users using Zello while forgetting the free application exists. The free app seems to be a haven for controversial topics, racism, and bullying. 2. Leadership: Top management in the company is simply disconnected from the reality of how to retain good employees. In my tenure at the company, I've seen a handful of talented people quickly become discouraged and leave with less than a year of work at Zello. The claim internally is that it's a difficult product and industry. However, that's not the case. It's simply a tough environment set by leadership to feel like more of a challenge than it should be. 3. Employees are expected to work in office, regardless of COVID or any other difficulties. Remote work is allowed but unofficially frowned upon in general. Additionally, leadership expects all of your time, not just 40 hours per week. If you're not working 50-60 hours per week you're simply not doing your fair share. The pay they offer as a result does not motivate others to work to that level, nor should anyone be surprised with that type of environment.

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Zello Response
3y
Thank you for the feedback. Following the recent funding close, we have been focused on a few parts of the company that have been consistently underperforming to better understand why. The result was a mix of voluntary exits and terminations as we invest and align for our product led growth strategy. Fortunately those changes have created fewer priorities and resulted in internal promotions while improving our customer focus and pace scaling our product led growth. We are investing in better management structure, and we are committed to making our employees more marketable through their Zello career experiences. In parallel, we are recruiting for people aligned with the strategy and able to accomplish goals assigned within a culture that combines transparency with broad autonomy.

Explore other reviews about Zello

5.0
May 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people, interesting work, fun events, good benefits

Cons

Start-up life and long days working at a quick pace isn't for everyone

1.0
Jan 20, 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some talented individuals in the ranks, but they often leave. Flexible work arrangements sometimes, but morale makes this irrelevant. Product has potential, but leadership hampers progress. Good paternity leave - 4 weeks time off. Offsite Hackathons every year.

Cons

Chronic layoffs. Despite being over a decade old, Zello still operates like a shaky startup with no clear direction. Layoffs are frequent, with false reassurances from leadership after every round. Minimal equity. Offers little in terms of equity, and the refreshing program introduced last year is negligible and feels like an afterthought. They will tell you that this is how all start ups work. Poor leadership. The executive team lacks a clear strategy and micromanages daily operations across engineering, product, and sales, creating bottlenecks and inefficiencies. CEO tells to developers and product how to write the code (mostly in a hacky way). CTO constantly micromanages daily. Toxic work environment. Long-term employees seem resistant to change and actively undermine new hires, making it impossible to create meaningful impact. Hacky solutions. Pressure to deliver quickly leads to buggy products and endless cycles of patching and rework. Lack of vision. No clear strategy for the company’s future, just reactive measures and hollow promises.

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