A miniature Theranos of the semiconductor automation industry - Anonymous employee Nanotronics Employee Review

1.0
30 Jun 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lunch is catered in Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Occasionally, breakfast bagels and afternoon treats are catered in on Friday. Full closet of snacks. You can make a lot of good friends here. You get to learn a little about the semiconductor industry, basic computer vision techniques, and hardware microcontrollers.

Cons

There's a reason most of the reviews here have the word "toxic" or "unethical" in their headlines; the so-called "executives" of the company firmly believe in the "ship it then fix it" sales model and act as if they were the original inventors of this concept. The lack of any basic technical knowledge among senior staff is hilariously bad. If you try to critique or constructively criticize the sales approach -- or "bring light" to "whispers in the dark" as described by another most likely fake review -- they will either brush off your comments as being "too negative", tell you that there is nothing to worry about and this is "how companies grow", or capriciously create a new senior management role to act as a wedge between you and them. Speaking of fake reviews, there is a very high chance that there are fake reviews here written by management to counteract the more accurate negative reviews of the company. This isn't even the extent of the dishonesty and lack of integrity present at the company; as other reviews have mentioned, data is sometimes manipulated or even completely fabricated to mislead clients into a PO. Overall, senior management act and behave exactly like the senior management of Theranos as reported by John Carreyrou in "Bad Blood" -- capricious, vacuous, egotistical, political, incompetent, unethical, toxic, and even malicious if you attempt to correct them or challenge their fragile egos. In addition to the senior management troubles at the company, the product and research the company has are largely bogus. On the software side of things, the main software product barely works and is only somewhat viable due to a large number of software patches being rolled out to customers. Software development is thought of as an "implementation detail" rather than being a guiding principle of the company and one to continually work on and improve. People who have no business speaking about or advising on software practices are allowed to make critical decisions about the software design and implementation. On the research side of things, things aren't much better. Most of the research projects attempt to follow the "salami slicing" model of research and barely improve upon any existing material. Any progress on the projects is greatly exaggerated internally and to investors. All of these problems bring us back to square one: lack of basic professionalism, decency, integrity, and respect for the company and its employees. If you respect yourself and your craft, go somewhere else.

Explore other reviews about Nanotronics

5.0
30 May 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Environment which promotes innovation. No micromanagement or excessive pressure on employees.

Cons

No cons for active individuals.

1.0
8 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are no pros anymore.

Cons

Nanotronics has engaged in deceptive practices. The company laid off approximately 95% of its workforce and vacated its former flagship facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, now operating from a small office occupied by fewer than ten employees. Despite these changes, the company has not updated its public-facing address and continues to portray itself as maintaining a prominent Brooklyn presence. All manufacturing operations in Brooklyn have been discontinued. Although a facility remains in Hollister, California, it offers no meaningful competitive advantage. Competing firms are more established and provide stronger support, greater reliability, and proven track records. The Hollister facility remains operational primarily in anticipation of a potential sale. The company lacks a substantive client base, provides no meaningful aftermarket support, and has no plans to update or maintain its legacy inspection tools. The company has also rebranded itself as Nanotronics Inspection Systems, a move that appears intended to further obscure its current operational reality. Under this new identity, it continues to promote the so-called “Cubefabs” initiative, which appears to lack a tangible product, demonstrated implementation experience, or operational deployments. The associated marketing materials rely heavily on AI-generated imagery and exaggerated claims rather than verifiable technology or execution. In addition, the company’s management and advisory materials continue to reference well-known public figures as advisors, despite the fact that these individuals no longer appear to have any active involvement with the company. The company has previously disclosed a significant investment from the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). Around the time of this investment, a new president, Anwaar AlMahmeed, was appointed. Publicly available information indicates professional associations with organizations operating in Islamic finance sectors, including Sharia-compliant financial products. While no wrongdoing is alleged, these circumstances raise legitimate governance and oversight questions, particularly for defense-related customers, regarding potential conflicts of interest, undue influence, and the safeguarding of sensitive or confidential information.

4
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All