The company is extremely disorganized and lacks basic operational structure. The hiring process was misleading and significantly overstated the stability and maturity of the business. Sales leadership routinely speaks to sellers in a demeaning and aggressive manner, often yelling on internal calls as if people are children. Deals and renewals are frequently blocked or declined by management, and major enterprise customers are pressured into unexpected system refreshes, creating unnecessary friction, risk, and distrust.
The overall sales approach is highly transactional. There is zero lead generation, no real go to market strategy, and no functional sales enablement or modern sales tools. Everything is built ad hoc by management and pushed onto sellers to figure out themselves, despite not being competitive in an enterprise environment. The commission plan is completely unrealistic and structured in a way that places nearly all risk on the seller. I spoke with every salesperson during my time there and not a single person had ever earned a commission check.
The company’s channel sales model is fundamentally broken. Sellers are forced to rely on partners who routinely do not return emails or phone calls and show little to no respect for OpenDrives as a vendor. There is no accountability, no leverage, and no meaningful support structure, yet sellers are still held responsible for outcomes they have no control over. This model makes it nearly impossible to close deals or build momentum and sets sellers up to fail.
During my time at the company, I attended multiple industry events representing OpenDrives. At nearly every event, former employees, customers, and industry peers I knew and respected privately pulled me aside to tell me I should get away from the company. This feedback was unsolicited, consistent, and deeply concerning. After I left, a close friend who remained shared that close to 30 employees were terminated at once on a Zoom call, with one day’s notice and only two weeks of severance pay.
The company laid off roughly seventy percent of its staff while continuing to make public announcements that suggested growth and momentum. A product launch for a new system was poorly executed and embarrassing, with the system failing multiple times during the live event. While many of the individual employees were kind and well intentioned, the overall environment was chaotic, unsupported, and unsustainable. This was the most disorganized and hostile work environment I have ever experienced, and I would strongly advise anyone considering a role here to think carefully and only proceed if they have no other option.
