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Thank you for the response. As per your pro mention, we do pay at or above top rates for Chico and our region, however if you are taking into consideration compensation from other areas, also take into consideration cost of living too. Yes, you can make more in San Francisco, however you rent, cost of living, and commute is a wee bit higher / longer.
There are a lot of people who don't get ahead at Build and often blame culture. We do have a culture where you have to raise your hand for a promotion, we don't necessarily grab people and promote them unless they apply, so its hard for people with personality types who expect to be picked up by the bootstraps as opposed to lift themselves up. Its hard to zero in on your certain situation, or understand how I can remedy this, which most of the examples don't offer a remedy.
Software development in a 17 year old company, with a lot of legacy code, makes things hard. Fair to point out and a fair objection, but we have taken a lot of steps to sort this out over time, including migrating from coldfusion to Node JS. Still much work to be done.
As far as projects go, most ideas that get sponsored, are bubbled up. Because software is a precious resource, we do pay a lot of attention on who gets what done. Trust me, there are 100 bad ideas for every 1 or 2 we vet and develop. Visibility has gotten much better, and so has project and product management. Its constant evolution.
As the founder of the company, I try and communicate vision / passion and I'm sorry it didn't resonate with you. While Instagram may suggest otherwise, I'm not constantly on vacation... Well, I am constantly traveling... but not constantly on vacation... I actually rarely take a break fully from doing calls and answering emails even when I'm on vacation.... With the exception of Burningman, I really do take that week off from email and everything...
As far as your advice goes..... I AGREE!! I do think we need new blood, new leadership, and maybe a few more micro cultures. (however its hard not be accused then of being "cliquey") however like the Internet told me someone famous said “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.
In closing, you spent 5 years of your life at Build.com. It sounds like there were good parts, bad parts, and other parts. I hope you came away a better person, as if you were here for 5 years, I'm sure you helped be a big part in our success. Best wishes in your future endeavors.