Pinterest

Overall: From my experience on the rev generating side of the biz, I agree with a previous anonymous review that the org is dominated by white males, where a woman’s pov is often not recognized. I literally tested this theory with a fellow male co-worker and my boss took “his” idea over mine- which was exactly the same idea. I would also say that women leaders are constantly under scrutiny or tasked as the “note taker” vs. their male peers– Which makes their voices often overlooked as well.

This one time, after one of the co-founders (there are only two), led a discussion on diversity, I asked what the strategy would be moving forward since we weren’t (still aren’t) hitting our goals. One of the leaders on the rev side approached me and commented: [name], you are a bit aggressive, aren’t you?– Week 2 on the job and already asking serious questions. (?!) I gently responded, “hmm, I don’t know if that was aggressive or asking the right questions to solve a challenge.” To note: Aggressive is a sexist comment toward women that have a “get it done” mentality.

In terms of equal pay: not sure. (neutral rating)

Career Advancement: Rev teams are typically “stuck” in their role, unless they want to take a lateral to move to another team. You can “level up” in role, but takes a lot of knowing the right people vs. results.

Supportive Culture: My peers were super supportive of me. Super thankful for them and love the to this day. Some have become my best friends (e.g. 2 stars). That said, leadership is weak (both males and females) where they don’t have the time (?) or are so worried about their already missed quotas that they do not support their teams.

Family Friendly: Depends. When I was on the team, I worked long hours and barely saw my family. It is on the individual to make time for their family and set expectations of hours. That said, I believe culture is top down– Unless someone feels “ok” leaving on-time, it’s hard. 2 stars.

I was a contractor for a short time at Pinterest. My team was predominantly women in the revenue department and I loved them. They were a straight to business, clear, concise group that worked well together. When we were together (my team was in meetings a lot!) we spent some time getting to know each other a little better as well. I really loved my team there, but my life took me to another state and I couldn’t continue with Pinterest. But, I still keep in touch with the team, which has expanded a lot! They treat me like I’m still part of the team even though I don’t work there anymore. I loved my time at Pinterest!

I can’t speak to the benefits, but all of the perks were really nice and the food got a lot better while I was there. The building is open and industrial and they even bring massages on site!

Pinterest is a quickly evolving and demanding company. The drive is there to grow & scale the product and it is quite refreshing to see egoless professionals adhere to “all hands on deck” when things need to get done. I admire the leadership team’s transperancy and inclusivity. Am curios to see how that will continue over time, but, it just goes to show how much employees are a part of “one team”.

Pinterest has a fantastic product which has the opportunity to help marketers achieve their business goals in new ways. There is unfortunately very little investment in people or leadership development and many people at all levels and across all roles are lacking critical skills/experience. As a typical start-up environment there is a lot to do. This combined with a highly perfectionist culture which means you must be a master of execution, stress and time management to avoid drowning or failing. And if you succeed don’t expect anyone to recognize you.

I feel lucky every day I get to work at Pinterest. I am in my late 30s and had a prior career in a totally different industry– so I was truly an “atypical candidate”. Many of the Googles and Facebooks of the world didn’t have the time/inclination to do the extra work to understand what my unique perspective could bring. If they couldn’t immediately categorize my resume, they cast it off. However, Pinterest clearly valued the diversity of thought and background I brought, asked me thought provoking questions and has supported me professionally and personally since I arrived. I honestly feel incredibly fortunate.

Having been at over 6 SF based startups, I can honestly say that Pinterest is the best company I’ve worked at (by a landslide). The focus on culture, makes Pinterest a place where colleagues respect one another, collaboration and knitting cross functionally is emphasized, and you are challenged each and every day to be a better version of your professional self. Compensation is extremely fair, and there is an ongoing focus on maintaining a work-life balance … families put first with overly generous maternity and paternity policies. Still in the early stages of growth (as compared to a Facebook or Google), there is an abundance of opportunity to take control of your day to day to invoke change and help build the path forward. I’ve been at Pinterest for a little over a year and truly have nothing but positive things to say about working here.

Pinterest – particularly the partners/revenue generating side of the business, is led by white males. The disorganization and lack of competence within middle management led to big revenue target misses for 2016 that will likely repeat in 2017. The ideas that flow through the company are amazing and there are many folks with creative, innovative ideas. Unfortunately, inexperienced leadership and lack of employee support and growth stifles the most ingenious minds.