Pros
The Pros: 1. It is possible to build a network. My new role with an early stage start-up is one I found through connections I made at CDL, and this story is not uncommon. Of the folks who have either left or been laid off in my time there (and turn over was/is very high) several found their way to early-stage companies or investors through connections made at CDL. 2. The team is great. The Venture Managers and Associate Directors I worked with both new and old were smart and capable. 3. There are opportunities to learn. Start-up land is a strange place, and working at CDL serves as a pretty good primer, I found it fun and rewarding to recruit and work with founder and being with companies at a pivotal stage in their lifecycle.
Kontras
The Cons: 1.No transparency. Other reviews discuss this topic at length, the culture among leadership is to share nothing. They hire smart people, and ask those people to carefully consider complicated business questions when working with and advising start-ups but somehow seem to think that those same people will turn off the analytical part of their brains when dealing with CDL. FIrings and layoffs happen without explanation (to either the people or those who remain) there is no chance or opportunity to suggest or recommended changes. I do not know the actual reason for my lay off, but I believe part of the reason was my willingness to challenge decisions that were made, even in private. 2 .The last two years have shown a trend toward admin work over thinking work. One of the key values I got from CDL was the network that I built, and when I started there were opportunities for venture managers to engage with mentors and we were expected to work as advisors to the companies to whom we where assigned. These opportunities have been eroded, by removing names of venture managers from the docs they prepare to explicitly tell venture managers to not advise companies. Outside of recruitment during the summer, the work of a venture manager now, barring any dramatic changes in the last three months, is largely administrative and repetitive. 3. No feedback, performance evaluations, or professional development. As a venture manager, I learned a lot from my peers and the companies and mentors I was able to meet. However, the only time I received feedback on my work was either when of my companies sent an email to one of my bosses, or I spoke out in an internal meeting in such a way that someone found disagreeable (sometimes justifiably so) there is no systemic training, and no way to know if you are good at your job. When I was laid off I was assured it was “not performance-related” but as an employee is it stressful and unpleasant to have no idea where you stand. This problem along with high turnover was my understanding for why a new manager was brought in to CDL Toronto, as of this writing to my knowledge the culture has gotten worse and these issues have only been exacerbated. 4. Little respect for employees or their time. In the afternoon on a Tuesday in April of 2020 the CDL Toronto team was told that there as a mandatory daily meeting at 6:30 am the starting the next day. No explanation was provided for why this meeting had to take place at this time, no apology was offered for making people wake up early or, to my knowledge no thank you was ever given for asking people to be to up at that hour. This was not a one-off experience, employees may be asked to work strange hours, and while in and of itself is not an issue, it is seen here as an expectation rather than something our team does to go above and beyond. I should also note, that had a team-wide meeting to discuss new daily 6:30 meetings and we were asked for feedback on the meeting time, I and others spoke up, no explanation was provided and nothing changed. If I where a new employee considering taking a Job at CDL Toronto here are some questions I would ask : 1. I understand from reading glass-door reviews that turnover at CDL Toronto is fairly high, why is that? 2. How will I know if I am good at my job? 3. What have venture managers gone on to do after CDL? Are there any with whom you would be comfortable putting me in touch?