Zoosk Reviews

Thanks Glassdoor for allowing me to speak the truth here. I've never been at a company where employees felt like they were being pranked over and over again every single time an announcement was made whether it be an annual tradition of layoffs or the biggest joke of all: promoting one of the least qualified people to lead a once strong team. I never thought our product was great but I felt we did a good job with marketing. Now, the last thing I thought we were good at is going down the drain. I'm constantly beyond embarrassed with all the current marketing that is put out. Perhaps this is a clear indicator of who should be put on the top and who shouldn't. As more and more people flee, I'm desperately trying to find my way out. And I'm beyond positive I'm not the only one. I guess I can always rely on our new marketing department to make more costly mistakes and perhaps another layoff will include me this time. A severance would be nice.

[1] Inconsistent image - Our product looks differently on desktop, touch, and native apps, and it’s inconsistent with marketing visuals (online/TV/billboard ads, landing pages). Our userbase is mostly not urban and hipster, yet the most recent ads look just like that. This is a common problem seen in companies with young city-folk employees self-projecting despite the data. [2] No respect for process/resources - Maybe there was a time when engineers were the trophies, but it feels like we’re cogs now. “Let’s disrupt Engineering’s schedule with a new half-baked project to start tomorrow and ship in a week.” “Let’s hand off this problem we’ve known about for a year and have Engineering drop everything to fix it fast so we don’t get fined.” “Let’s double the workload from the last 6 months despite a hiring freeze.” Stressful times. Our resources simply can’t work this way without consequences. [3] Wrong idea of innovation - Zoosk is iDate’s 2015 Most Innovative Company. I don’t know how iDate defines “innovative,” but at Zoosk it means throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Zoosk has one original idea - Photo Verification. We don’t blaze trails, influence the industry, or establish our name (except for bad press). OKCupid’s co-founder wrote a book on what their data reveal about online dating. We have lots of data. Why didn’t we do this? Our blog is good but can do more. Data (not polls) reveal fascinating stuff. We also need risk-taking, yet smart, leaders who make statements and can turn things on their heads. tl;dr: The product looks different everywhere and doesn’t match marketing, vice-versa; resources and process are not respected; no innovation The 2016 layoff revealed: [1] No transparency - There was never a sign of serious problems. If targets were off, they always knew why which implied the situation was under control or will be addressed. That’s why the layoff slammed us like a city tour bus. They averted a mass panic by hiding the truth but made up for it by killing morale. Either way, people will leave. Honesty earns respect and maybe a positive Glassdoor review. Some people might stay because they feel it’s their problem to help solve, as long as you’re open about it. [2] Bad decisions and insights forced this (not excusable) - Valuable people, some who served a number of years, were cut. Because the company painted itself into a corner, it all came down to money. The employees were not valued for their loyalty and experience, only how their salary could close the expense-to-revenue gap. [3] Carelessness and/or disregard - Many new hires, some who started as late as November, were cut. I’m sure most left gainful employment looking for something better, and they came here. Now they’re out of a job. The execs should have paused hiring once they saw hints of trouble. This was so irresponsible. tl;dr: No transparency; bad decisions and insights; carelessness and/or disregard