Great and not so great - Anonymous employee Cinchy Employee Review

4.0
29 Aug 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Passionate talent, excellent work life balance, great opportunities, exciting work

Cons

Reactive strategy, communication silos, teams struggling to keep up with growth

Explore other reviews about Cinchy

3.0
13 Oct 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Given the nature of the company's product, which focuses on data collaboration, there is a notable level of data literacy among the staff. This shared proficiency not only facilitates smoother collaboration but also creates an environment where insights and information are comprehensively understood across the platform of Cinchy. The potential of the product itself is substantial, particularly when utilized by the right demographic of users. There exists a significant opportunity for growth and industry impact if the company can successfully steer through the inherent challenges of such an innovative space. In terms of leadership, there is a commendable commitment to transparency, with an open-door policy that genuinely welcomes challenges and constructive criticism — a policy that not only is refreshing but also fosters a culture of honesty and accountability. The co-founders, specifically, are individuals of high intellect and capability, which can lead to highly engaging and productive conversations. Furthermore, the company culture vigorously celebrates autonomy and a proactive mindset. Individuals who display initiative, the ability to identify issues and either possess the skills to address them independently or can galvanize a team for resolution, are highly valued and tend to thrive. This emphasis on "building" and problem-solving not only drives innovation but also contributes to professional growth and a dynamic work environment.

Cons

The current state of the company's business strategy appears nebulous, with an identifiable ideal customer profile (ICP) not clearly delineated. However, there are indications that this may be evolving towards a more defined direction. This ambiguity extends to the product strategy as well. An observable tendency to prioritize immediate customer requests has resulted in solutions that often compromise on quality and overall user experience. This approach, especially when juxtaposed with the complex requirements of enterprise clients, frequently necessitates an urgent, reactive work environment across all teams. The engineering department, specifically, seems significantly understaffed, challenging its capacity not only to address present technical issues but also to venture into new problem-solving domains. Furthermore, the company ethos advocates for an extensive reliance on Cinchy, premised on the notion that all applications are essentially interfaces contingent on an underlying data model, which is manageable within the Cinchy system. While this is theoretically sound, practical implementation raises questions regarding the optimality of resource allocation. Additionally, there's a palpable resistance against incorporating top-tier, familiar technologies, which can be a point of contention for professionals accustomed to such resources. In the day-to-day, I feel like the constant pressure to deliver results has eclipsed opportunities for colleagues to connect on a personal level, contributing to a workplace that can feel impersonal and transactional. Introducing deliberate measures to encourage social interaction could greatly enhance team cohesion and overall job satisfaction. Addressing the leadership, specifically the CEO's approach, there are two aspects that are notably concerning: While the CEO can be a compelling force for motivation, the methodology employed is often counterproductive. The use of shame as a tool for motivation, manifested through public reprimands, sarcasm, or passive-aggressive remarks, contributes to a professional atmosphere that can be perceived as deeply disconcerting and demoralizing. A policy mandating the recording of all meetings, inclusive of those of a private nature, has been instituted. Despite the option to disable such recordings, transcripts are nonetheless produced and integrated into the Cinchy data system. Anecdotal evidence suggests a level of monitoring that includes scrutiny for references to the CEO, potentially extending to commentary on private discussions. The overarching assertion that privacy is non-existent within this context has, quite ironically, engendered a climate of apprehension, impeding open communication. These elements collectively contribute to an organizational environment that could significantly benefit from introspective evaluation and recalibration towards fostering a more supportive and empowering corporate culture.

15
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Cinchy Response
2y
Thank you for taking the time to submit this. This was well thought out and comes across as genuine and constructive. You raise some genuinely great points! 1) Re: Mandatory Recording We never have, nor ever will have, a policy "mandating" recording of meetings. Calls are explicitly disclaimed with the ability to opt out, and customers will indeed occasionally ask that calls not be recorded. All employees can start/stop a recording at any time, meetings marked as 'private' are not recorded by default, and employees can change their default recording settings. This is true for all calls, be them internal or external. The fact that you raised this here tells me that you believed/believe otherwise, and as such I will immediately share this with all staff in the event that others share this view. PS. If anyone reading this ever finds themselves working at a company with such a mandate, get out of there! 2) Re: Nebulous Business Strategy I very much agree with the issues you raised. We’ve seen challenges, especially with customers who purchased Cinchy for a single project (vs. those where it was sold as a multi/cross-project capability). We've been very transparent about this, and over the past few months, we have been very focused on creating pre-selected "packages" that target more narrow ICPs with more specific business outcomes, ensuring any future purchase supports a recurring need (vs. single point-in-time outcome). This is very much in progress, so it will be some time before anyone claims “mission accomplished”. 3) Re: In-Person Gatherings I also agree that we need to increase in-person gatherings. This is somewhat challenging given the fact the team is distributed, but regardless, it's become crystal clear, especially over the past six months, that the cost of travel is lesser than the cost of misalignment. 4) Re: Engineering Understaffed Mostly agree here, and while we have doubled the size of the dev team post our last round, it is unlikely we will ever have “enough” builders (given the size/scale of the vision). I think the real issue here isn’t capacity, rather it is the diversity of customer usage that creates the feeling that we are doing “everything for everyone”. We believe the answer lies in our strategy to refine our ICPs and establish pre-selected packages/patterns to reduce the variability in how the platform is used, ultimately improving sales, reducing churn, and solve for the feeling of engineering being chronically understaffed. 5) Re: Dogfooding I agree with you on this being a point of contention but I do believe there is also confusion at play. If you check our “Applications” table in Cinchy, you’ll see we have 260+ “tools” we use across the company. This includes shared tools like Loom, Zoom, Gong, Freshdesk, Hubspot, Zoom Info, Google Workspace, but also team-specific and occasionally even person-specific tools. Some may argue this is too many for a 60-person company, but I don’t. Our vision is that you should be able to use any “tool,” with the 1 caveat that any business-critical data behind the tool is “liberated” using Cinchy to prevent information siloing and a loss of control over our organizations' data. Somehow, this has been confused to be a constraint on using tools, which I will clarify for the wider team. With all this said, the internal use of our product to solve for data collaboration is non-negotiable, and I do try to make that clear to anyone in the interview process. 6) Re: CEO is an arse On this point, I also agree. The CEO preaches that sharing one's opinion openly and honestly is a “must-have” in the modern age, especially to counter the increased trend toward “fake news.” However, he does not appreciate the consequences of “telling it as he sees it” to the broader organization. Firstly, he is not always right, and sharing one's opinion if you are occasionally wrong can result in misinformation and confusion, even if not the intent. Secondly, imagine being accountable for something only to have the CEO call out errors/omissions/improvements without regard to who is listening. For eons, organizations have known that only positive feedback should be shared in public and constructive/negative feedback should be shared behind closed doors. This is Management 101. The CEO has been told this before but is stubborn and won’t listen. BTW, I am the CEO.
5.0
23 May 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Cinchy is a small company trying to do something extraordinary - build a new way of doing things and create a new category. I haven't been here for very long but here is a list of things that I think separates this place from others: 1. Really great colleagues. The people here are smart, empathetic, and want to create something exceptional. 2. You have a lot of autonomy here. Nobody is looking over your shoulder and it's more about impact than hours worked. If you can find a smarter way of doing things that is highly valued. 3. Leadership - the SLT is willing to roll up there sleeves and get their hands dirty. They get it. 4. Employee success is really important to company and a lot is being invested into programming - there is a mindful approach to People here. 5. I love being fully remote. 6. Lots of growth and opportunity to learn new things. 7. Open to hearing from everyone at all levels. Good ideas can come from anywhere at anytime. I love that you have a voice here no matter what your role is.

Cons

1. There is a lot to do. The good news is that everyone here is willing to do what they can to help you be successful. 2. The product is super technical. I feel like I am learning something new every day. 3. Because we are a remote company you have to figure out how your colleagues best operate when it comes to communication. Some prefer zoom, others email.

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