Pluspunten
The word 'iconic' is probably flung around a bit much these days.. but in London, Time Out genuinely commands that status. As a result, a lovely mix of interesting, smart, talented folks are drawn towards the red neon sign. I had such a lot of fun working there. As well as having a great brand, the content the team produce is awesome. When I first joined the business in 2014, they had a fantastic CEO you got the sense everyone at the company rallied behind. Although lots changed in the years I was there, what didn't is the passion and commitment of the people writing, editing, designing, producing and selling the products Time Out produces. Although like everywhere else in the world it's certainly not perfect, the people who work there care about what they're doing. Having worked at places where people don't, in my opinion, you can't put a price on that.
Minpunten
They're losing money. The current CEO's vision of pivoting to a transactional platform (TripAdvisor... but cool!) sounded like an awesome idea. But it was flawed and it failed. Time Out Market is also a great idea, but has been hampered by constant delays and big challenges of its own. In a normal business, you'd expect a change of leadership and a new direction. That has strangely never happened at Time Out. As I left the business the image I had of those steering the ship was as punch-drunk prize fighters, prepared to throw out blows (and blame) in any direction to cling onto their a six figure salaries. That doesn't make for a great atmosphere. There were so many sad things about the many rounds of redundancies I saw inflicted on the team over the years. Perhaps the most ridiculous and disheartening, is the amount of money that was spent on ejecting fantastic, hard-working, passionate people from the business... at a time when they needed their talent and toil more than ever!