Pros
There were some really talented people at REX. Andy Barkett had the respect of the engineering and data science teams.
Cons
The saddest thing about REX is the wasted potential. Jack Ryan was really on to something; the real estate industry is overpriced and hasn't kept pace with technology and it DOES need a shakeout. However, so long as Jack and Lynley are running the show REX will not be the company that does it. Jack has one valuable skill and that is selling the vision and raising money. Thats fine, but it means he needs a strong C-suite to run the show. Unfortunately, because he made a TON of money at Goldman he has become totally blind to his inability to run a business (REX is the second he has run into the ground) and just assumes he is a titan of industry and everything will work out. That simply isn't how startups work. They are hard and you have to adjust your business model and move fast. Despite the "fast fast fast" mantra, we were actually the slowest startup I ever worked for. The issue was we kept adding functionality (insurance, mortgage, make-ready, etc) and we had to service all of that infrastructure and never really got good at anything. But Jack and Lynley don't know how to focus and cut. Jack's genius solution was just to yell at everyone and take no responsibility. Now that's the core issue, but lets not forget a few of the others: --Jack has this absurd obsession with Harvard. He spent an obscene amount of time recruiting interns and dumps them on the company whether or not they are qualified. HR spent over a $1 Million on our summer intern program even when we were in dire financial straights. --Jack and Lynley developed a horrible relationship with the board to the point where most of the board resigned because they couldn't trust Jack. --Working with budgets was a nightmare because Lynley and Jack were so opaque about the finances. -- There was no consistency across the sales organization leading to wildly varying impact. -- The company kept hiring deeply inappropriate people because Jack "felt sorry" for them even if it made the other employees uncomfortable to work with them. -- The tiny changes they are making now are not going to be enough. The company needs a radical transformation if it is going to survive.
