topi 

GmbH

Bewertungen

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

A few genuinely capable individual colleagues.
The underlying domain (hardware subscriptions, financing data) is interesting to work on.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

You are recruited on a story about scale and stability. You are told you are now part of a large asset-finance group, "backed by BlackRock/HPS", expanding into the UK and US. The daily reality is a side project in someone's garage.

The acquisition was presented as a success, but with the amount undisclosed, a co-founder left right after, and prior shareholders kept no stake - it read to me more like a rescue than a win. My impression was that the new owner cared mainly about the B2B contracts and customer base, with little real interest in the technical side or the team.

The org structure is both the pitch and the problem. I interviewed understanding one reporting line, but on day one I reported to someone who had been a peer in my own interview loop. He had just been moved into a lead role, with roughly half my technical experience and no management background. None of this was disclosed beforehand.

For a company positioning itself as part of a major finance group, there is no real HR or legal function - offers come from engineers, contracts from the CFO. Something you only realise once inside.

Leadership was strikingly opaque about the company's health. In my experience, financial transparency felt limited, and the figures I did see felt minimal. What was shown pointed to ongoing losses. Basic financial transparency simply wasn't there.

Attrition is high, especially in tech, and was hidden during hiring. Several senior and head-level people had left or been pushed out around my time there, and a large share of engineering was brought in as contractors, who are conveniently easier to let go.

Engineering culture is close to absent. Core money logic, like billing and how customers are charged, runs with essentially no documentation. Commits often land with one or two words, if anything. Most real direction is deliberately kept in calls and DMs rather than tickets or PRs, so there is no paper trail. Raise a problem or point at a bad practice and you get an aggressive reaction. Meanwhile you are expected to write detailed justifications for your own tasks and initiatives. Two-word tickets for them, a dissertation for you.

In over a month there was exactly one feedback conversation, early on. It mostly revolved around a single 30-minute delay caused by an officially cancelled train (when literally all tech team including lead work 100% remotely). Beyond that I was given the impression that things were fine. There was no ongoing or structured feedback, no warning that my position was at risk.

Then I was let go in probation in a single day, no reason given, laptop and all access taken the same afternoon. I felt deceived and humiliated. What’s more, I was summoned to the office in the morning by the CEO and the head of the tech department, who didn’t give a reason either verbally or in writing and just said the lead engineer was supposed to explain. It looked like the behavior of three-year-olds who’d just pooped themselves, not something you’d expect from management. The lead engineer, meanwhile, was hiding out until the very last moment and denied knowing anything. In the end, he called after my meeting and could only manage to say, “There was some friction,” and brought up that one delay again, trying to frame a single incident as a pattern.

The dysfunction did not stop at the exit. After my employment ended, the processing of my unemployment benefit claim was put on hold by the employment agency because the required Arbeitsbescheinigung from the company was still outstanding. It arrived seven days after my last working day.

A note on the recent reviews: shortly after this critical review was posted, a cluster of uniformly positive ratings (4.5+) appeared within days - including two from accounts labelled "Führungskraft" (management) at a ~37-person company. The dates and labels are visible on the profile. Readers can draw their own conclusions.

Verbesserungsvorschläge

Do not lie. Especially at hiring about structure, ownership and team stability. At least bring your communication up to an acceptable level so you don't hide behind each other and stay silent for weeks on end.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

A toxic atmosphere. Lack of transparency and dishonesty.

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Work-Life-Balance

Flexibility is a stated value but not a real one. I was pushed to start at 9:00 sharp on certain days, even though this was written down nowhere and not company policy - it came from a manager who wouldn't even state it openly, while working fully remote himself. Meanwhile a 6pm "quick call" would run an hour, with a jab like "what, did you start exactly at 9 today?". In fact, only half an hour was spent discussing specific tasks, and even those weren't urgent at all.

In my single feedback call I was told this "isn't a job where you sit at home and pretend to work" - by a manager who himself worked 100% remotely from another federal state with zero supervising and showed up maybe once every few months.

Karriere/Weiterbildung

Noticeable title inflation. Many hold Senior/Lead titles, but the level of discussion rarely matched the grade. Everyone's a 'Senior' or 'Lead' until the conversation gets technical

Kollegenzusammenhalt

A few strong individuals, but heavy turnover.

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Asked at an all-hands why the business was struggling, the CEO said she didn't know and pointed to operations, leaving the impression of no grip on either the technical or operational side. She openly admitted she didn't understand why the business was failing and simply repeated what operations had told her.

Arbeitsbedingungen

Onboarding was disorganized. No charger on day one, basic access took days.

The office is a barely-converted old apartment. One of two meeting rooms sits literally against the toilet wall.

Kommunikation

Key decisions went uncommunicated. Day to day, direction lived in DMs and calls rather than emails, documents, tickets or PRs.

Gehalt/Benefits

In the end, the offer was in line with market rates. But even though I had clearly specified the range in my application, during the final interview the CEO stated that their top offer was 10k below my lower limit. Their initial top offer was completely out of line with market rates for a senior engineer.

Interessante Aufgaben

Not a single task in over a month was real engineering. In practice you spend your time untangling years of tech debt and undocumented legacy code, not building anything new.

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

The culture is one of the company's biggest strengths. There is a high level of trust, ownership, and collaboration, and employees are encouraged to contribute ideas and make an impact. The work is meaningful, the people are supportive, and there are plenty of opportunities to learn and grow.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Like many fast-growing companies, priorities can sometimes change quickly, which can occasionally create uncertainty or require teams to adapt rapidly. However, this is also part of what makes the environment dynamic and offers employees the chance to take on new challenges and responsibilities.

Verbesserungsvorschläge

As the company continues to grow, maintaining clear communication and alignment across teams will become increasingly important. Continued investment in internal processes, documentation, and cross-functional collaboration will help preserve the agility and transparency that make the company a great place to work.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

Great team spirit, supportive colleagues, and a collaborative environment where people genuinely enjoy working together.

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Work-Life-Balance

Flexible working arrangements and a high level of trust. Work can be demanding at times, but there is generally a good balance between professional and personal life.

Gehalt/Benefits

Competitive compensation, attractive benefits, and a strong focus on supporting employees beyond just salary. Urban Sports membership and JobRad as an example.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

Strong sense of teamwork and willingness to help each other. People work towards common goals rather than individual success.

Umgang mit älteren Kollegen

Mostly young folks but everyone is treated the same.

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Supportive leadership team that is approachable, values feedback, and gives employees ownership and responsibility.

Arbeitsbedingungen

Modern tools, flexible working arrangements. The office is super central and across a nice park.

Kommunikation

Open and transparent communication across teams. There is always room for improvement as the company grows, but overall information sharing works well.

Interessante Aufgaben

Varied and challenging work with plenty of opportunities to take initiative, contribute ideas, and make a real impact on the business.