High-growth environment - Anonymous employee Octopus Legacy Employee Review

Fast-paced environment where you’ll be forced to learn quickly and take on responsibility early

Extremely high turnover with frequent, unexpected firings. There is little transparency around performance, and people are often dismissed without ever being given clear expectations or meaningful feedback. Management struggles to define what success looks like. You’re told to improve, but not how - and by the time issues are raised, it’s often too late. Leadership constantly talks about moving fast, yet gives very little autonomy. Most decisions require founder approval, which completely contradicts the “no process” narrative and slows everything down. The interview process is misleading. You’re told to have a voice and strong opinions, but in reality, this isn’t welcomed. People are excluded from meetings and decision-making, and pushing back can work against you. Culture is a major issue. What’s sold as a “fun” environment is actually tense and negative - morale is low and people frequently complain about leadership. There’s also a clear expectation to work evenings and weekends, with pressure to be constantly visible. Not being in the office or always online is frowned upon. Leadership is cliquey, unprofessional, and at times intimidating. Following a negative anonymous review, teams were pressured to identify the individual responsible, including suggestions that legal action could be taken against the individual, which created a very uncomfortable atmosphere. Psychological safety is nonexistent. Even high performers can be let go if they say the wrong thing or disagree with leadership. There is a real sense that you are not safe in your role. There are also concerning signals around what leadership views as a “model employee,” with a narrow and potentially exclusionary profile centered on overwork.

A genuinely interesting company that is growing quickly and has a very bright future ahead. All the teams are a pleasure to work with. The work itself is can be interesting at times if you find yourself on the right project.

Progression is often blocked by a lack of opportunities unless you're one of the management's favourites. Feedback is non-existent, and that combination means pay goes stale very quickly unless you have the right connections. If you're not in the inner circle, you won't go anywhere fast regardless of your skills, the work you deliver, or the positive feedback you receive.