First Circle Reviews

3.5

65% would recommend to a friend

(71 total reviews)

Patrick Lynch

66% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

First Circle has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 71 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The First Circle employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finance industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

71 reviews
1.0
25 Jun 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Salary was relatively competitive at the time, and it helped me set a better baseline for future offers. Beyond that, I struggled to find anything positive during my time here.

Cons

- Outdated tech stack (Rails, HTMX) with a poorly maintained, tightly coupled codebase made development unnecessarily difficult - No onboarding structure — expectations were unclear, and the team lacked alignment on direction, making ramp-up confusing and inefficient - Micromanagement from the top — even with leads in place, the CEO frequently jumped in to monitor, pressure, or directly critique employees, which created a tense and demoralizing environment - Toxic communication — feedback was often delivered in a condescending tone, and mistakes were met with blame instead of support - Unhealthy work culture — there’s an unspoken expectation to prioritize urgency above quality or personal well-being - Several people resigned before I joined, and more left shortly after I did. That pattern speaks for itself.

4.0
18 Apr 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

people from all around the world transparent free lunch ok salaries acknowledgement fast paced easy to get along with managers and employees all millenials and energetic people great friendships

Cons

almost nothing office can be cold

3.0
18 Sept 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Engineering Managers are kind and protect their people. Got to work with smart and awesome colleagues.

Cons

Executives don't care about their people. They don't know how to properly productize their business solutions. It was ran like an investment firm instead of a tech company

Viewing 1 - 3 of 71 Reviews

Glassdoor has 81 First Circle reviews submitted anonymously by First Circle employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if First Circle is right for you.