Pros
-Very small company so no bureaucracy, red tape, excessive formalities, etc.
- One of the owners is famous in the RF measurement field in that he invented the e-cal (a key piece of microwave test technology).
- Technology under development has a lot of potential if marketed and managed properly (which it currently isn't).
Cons
- Co-owners are constantly fighting with each other, creating a hostile and fearful work environment for employees. The facility is extremely disorganized - cluttered with extra parts and really old equipment, further degrading the atmosphere.
- One co-owner throws temper tantrums on a daily basis consisting of cursing, yelling and kicking equipment. When in a bad mood he acts like a bully, intimidating employees who ask him for his status on a project or hold him accountable for something. As a result, all employees are scared of him and must "tip-toe" around his bad moods.
- Same co-owner employs his own family members who are unqualified (in education and work experience) to do project management and other critical roles in the company. As a result, the family members don’t take their job seriously. These family members get special perks such as extra vacation time and benefits.
- Same co-owner has no vision of what he wants in a team or as his own role. He makes brash decisions to hire and fire people without consulting other owners or employees. He also has no plan on what to work on so he spends the day doing hardware debugging (for which he has no patience) or talking to customers in meetings. As a result, there's no concept of project management, scheduling or cost. All projects are therefore way over-budget and behind schedule. Some of the products never reach completion, they just get abandoned.
- Another co-owner is very set in his ways, passionless and dull in terms of his knowledge of the company, industry, marketing, accounting, etc. As a result, the marketing strategy is very outdated (see the website as an example). He lacks the courage to stand up for doing what’s right. He does not encourage good work and is compliant in “screwing over” employees.
- There is no sense of employee appreciation/talent retention since there is no HR department. There is also no sense of career growth since the owners aren't concerned about making the job appealing to employees.
- There are no benefits. The company hires people on an initial 6-month contract, but then just extends the contract on a weekly basis, never extending a full offer. As a result, over half of the employees receive no health insurance, paid leave, sick time or 401K. The full time employees consist of the owners and the one of the co-owner's family members.
- It seems almost like a fictitious company in that there is no regard for timeliness, growth, quality, cost, etc. The owners already earned millions in selling a previous company called ATN to Agilent Technologies (now Keysight). They reunited in 2009 to form ATE Systems. Since they are all rich from before (and old), it seems like this is just a way to pass time so they just do whatever they want. If they continue in this reckless style I can see them going under.