Pros
Fantastic culture Fast-paced, exciting industry Lots of great people and talent Great learning experience Free lunch Fridays (sometimes) Generous insurance package (pre-acquisition) Learned a lot from various members of the new ownership organization
Kontras
Due to Griffin’s own failures (i.e. catastrophic losses at big box retail), they were acquired by a competitor from CA in late 2016. The Griffin brand was largely forgotten due to geographical distance and a tired sales team that never understood the brand, history or products. Focus was shifted, almost exclusively, to supporting non-Griffin initiatives while still being expected to grow internal profitability. This was a complete disaster and culminated with layoffs in Oct 2017. Lack of leadership and direction at the VP level. Leadership was terrified and desperate for approval from the new owner. Frivolous, irresponsible hiring and spending in marketing Lack of strategy and innovation in product development Failure by sales to grow (or maintain) customer relationships and develop new channels Nepotism was a problem with leadership, morale and productivity