Pros
ZeroFOX offers many perks that are similar to those offered at other start-ups. For example, ZeroFOX has a generally young workforce, a cool office in Federal Hill, caters lunch 4 times a week, and has kegs in the kitchen. Departments regularly battle each other with nerf guns, which, depending on your opinion of nerf guns, can add a fun atmosphere to the office. The ZeroFOX culture can be described as “work hard, play hard”; which most people seem to appreciate and enjoy. Many of my coworkers were fantastic, very smart, and well-intentioned – but are probably soon to leave. The company offers a comprehensive benefits plan [healthcare, vision, legal, 401k (no match), etc.] Like many startups, employees are offered stock options. [However, non-executive level employees aren’t told how much equity they have in the company, so prospective employees shouldn’t place too much weight on the amount they may be offered.]
Cons
ZeroFOX is a ruthless, bullying, and exploitative company that has a poor reputation among Baltimore tech and start-up companies. These traits run throughout the business from certain executives/managers, and directly stem from the attitude of the CEO, James Foster, who is often callous and ungrateful towards others. As a result, this place is filled with tension, anxiety, and morose faces. I know for a fact that HR asked Senior Managers in various departments to coerce employees to write positive reviews on this site in an attempt to improve the company image, and I won’t be surprised to see a slew of fake positive reviews soon. It is convenient that this company’s mascot is a fox, as many parallels can be drawn between qualities often used to describe foxes and the negative qualities of this company: such as insincere, deceptive, and shifty. On insincere: there is a clear lack of strategy as well as incoherence with what the company claims to sell and what the product is actually able to provide to customers. Frequently the company will tell a prospect almost anything just to get them to sign, and then relies unfairly on underpaid and overworked employees to bridge the gap. Additionally, if you work here, you might be asked to do something that compromises your ethics, if you have any. On deception, do not believe their claims for a second that this company operates as a meritocracy; it’s all smoke and mirrors. There’s no such thing as growth here unless you are friends with the CEO; employees are often promised raises, promotions, or growth opportunities that either continue to move further away or disappear altogether. Managers and executives do this in order to string people along and continue exploiting them for their time and effort. Finally, on shiftiness: there is minimal transparency between upper management and the employees, despite the opposite being claimed during the hiring process. What little that is communicated is typically used to distract employees from the true issues the company faces – such as terrible sales numbers and high rates of customer attrition. Building on the above, HR allows managers and executives to manipulate situations to suit themselves and their biased opinions, which often results in retaliation against employees who raise certain issues to HR or senior management. For example, some managers, including female executives, encourage employees to “go along to get along” when they report experiencing sexism, misogyny, and other forms of harassment. Some women have even been discouraged by executives from pursuing certain career paths, because it may “affect their plans to have a family one day”. Women at the company who speak up for themselves [over pay discrepancy, over sexism and misogyny, and other mistreatment] are told they are “too aggressive”, that they should “only speak when spoken to”, and are marked down in performance reviews as a result. Due to these and other types of issues, many employees are often too afraid to report anything negative to HR or their direct manager for fear of retaliation; and end up either suffering in silence or leaving the company. Between the threats, the harassment, the casual [and occasionally overt] misogyny, the ageism towards younger employees from certain executives, the cagey corporate strategy, and the massive employee turnover, it is astounding that this company hasn’t been taken down by employee lawsuits, because it sure has provided all of the material.
