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Quit my job at a scam/fraud tech startup yesterday. JFC is this common?

Found something new and literally quit without notice yester...
Bateful location
  07/19/25
out the company
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
this is majority of "startups", burn out the peopl...
razzle bearded center pisswyrm
  07/19/25
sadly cr
galvanic hideous haunted graveyard stead
  07/19/25
yeah, but it sounds like OP was in that small subset of star...
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
...
Cerebral heaven
  07/19/25
Yep
Glittery Transparent Station Rigpig
  07/19/25
I don't feel comfortable doing that at the moment. Too many ...
Bateful location
  07/19/25
here's your lesson: avoid all startups except those with a v...
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
...
Cerebral heaven
  07/19/25
tech companies typically rely on "puffery" and not...
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
I don't know enough to say with certainty that they committe...
Bateful location
  07/19/25
Motherfucker, have you ever been an executive at a startup t...
lake swashbuckling people who are hurt
  07/19/25
worked at multiple startups, but never made it to the execut...
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
From my experience at startups, tech people don’t unde...
Cerebral heaven
  07/19/25
that's because startups tend to hire young and inexperienced...
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
This is right. It's made even worse by the burning desire al...
Fucking Fuckface
  07/19/25
...
Long TERF War for PeterBoi Poon
  07/25/25
did u have to take a pay cut
Jet-lagged honey-headed stage
  07/19/25
Very different compensation package at the new job. Might ma...
Bateful location
  07/19/25
ah interesting, well that just sounds good then
Jet-lagged honey-headed stage
  07/19/25
I did this at a unicorn startup. Took a role in a supposedly...
lake swashbuckling people who are hurt
  07/19/25
so did unicorn go public?
Lime Half-breed Public Bath
  07/19/25
"unicorn" is really meaningless because startup va...
Fragrant Iridescent New Version State
  07/19/25
Hahaha yeah
Seedy double fault
  07/19/25
...
aqua hospital toaster
  07/19/25


Poast new message in this thread



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:01 AM
Author: Bateful location

Found something new and literally quit without notice yesterday. I don't mind burning that bridge because I was there less than a year, and my manager (the CEO) was a psychopath.

The company has grown to several hundred people, and it seemed like lots of engineers were working overtime to deliver features. The office even had this elaborate "command center" to monitor their software for outages.

A few weeks ago I was part of a team that visited the company's primary customer. They literally had only three people toying with the software with no plan to actually start using the software for the foreseeable future.

The company has an insane valuation that is completely made up; probably 80% of the company is working overtime and burning out to build something that is literally not being used for any real application by any customer, and that's unlikely to change for a long time.

It saw a revolving door of executives during my short time there. I walked out through that door yesterday.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114026)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:07 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

out the company

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114037)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:10 AM
Author: razzle bearded center pisswyrm

this is majority of "startups", burn out the people doing the actual work so founders and execs get $$$

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114038)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:12 AM
Author: galvanic hideous haunted graveyard stead

sadly cr

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114041)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:15 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

yeah, but it sounds like OP was in that small subset of startups that grew much larger than average and could have a $1B+ valuation

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114045)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:19 AM
Author: Cerebral heaven



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114049)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 2:16 PM
Author: Glittery Transparent Station Rigpig

Yep

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114425)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:19 AM
Author: Bateful location

I don't feel comfortable doing that at the moment. Too many rich and powerful people behind this company.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114048)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:29 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

here's your lesson: avoid all startups except those with a very high likelihood of doing an IPO. sell all stock ASAP after the IPO and gtfo

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114054)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:30 AM
Author: Cerebral heaven



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114055)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:11 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

tech companies typically rely on "puffery" and not outright fraud -- their lies and exaggerations are basically as extreme as they can be without entering fraud territory. of course, the shadier companies do actually enter fraud territory, which is not as common. sounds like yours may have done that, though

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114040)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:22 AM
Author: Bateful location

I don't know enough to say with certainty that they committed fraud, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

That job was a fucking nightmare. Insane CEO. Crazy turnover. I'm glad I found something new at an established company.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114052)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:46 AM
Author: lake swashbuckling people who are hurt

Motherfucker, have you ever been an executive at a startup that raised a shitload of money???

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114072)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 10:09 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

worked at multiple startups, but never made it to the executive level because i left the startup world in my 20s; too young and not enough connections/luck to become an executive at that age. furthest i got was principal engineer reporting to the CTO. but i do have a few friends who have been executives at startups, and their experience matches what i poasted

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114087)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 10:25 AM
Author: Cerebral heaven

From my experience at startups, tech people don’t understand applicable laws and regulations. They just drink whatever koolaid they’re given. So even if they were the CTO they’re prob clueless

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114106)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 10:49 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

that's because startups tend to hire young and inexperienced people who haven't realized that the startup world is built on lies and burn out. the CTO i reported to happened to have over two decades of real industry experience, but i've seen countless startup "CTOs" in their late 20s/early 30s. those are definitely clueless

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114142)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:00 PM
Author: Fucking Fuckface

This is right. It's made even worse by the burning desire almost all CEOs of high profile startups have to be the next Elon Musk by "disrupting" everything and overpromising if it gets money through the door

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49115296)



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Date: July 25th, 2025 6:31 AM
Author: Long TERF War for PeterBoi Poon ( )



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49129943)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:32 AM
Author: Jet-lagged honey-headed stage

did u have to take a pay cut

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114056)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:37 AM
Author: Bateful location

Very different compensation package at the new job. Might make more depending on bonus, but overall it's an insignificant difference.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114062)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:41 AM
Author: Jet-lagged honey-headed stage

ah interesting, well that just sounds good then

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114067)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:40 AM
Author: lake swashbuckling people who are hurt

I did this at a unicorn startup. Took a role in a supposedly well-run, growing portco thinking PE would be lazer focused on results and an exit. Been an overall worse experience AND less money

It really feels like the world is one big punked episode that's in the portion of the setup where some people realize something is fucked, while other people are doubling and tripling down

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114066)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 9:53 AM
Author: Lime Half-breed Public Bath

so did unicorn go public?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114078)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 10:12 AM
Author: Fragrant Iridescent New Version State

"unicorn" is really meaningless because startup valuations are always just made up and severely inflated, either to get bought out at a higher price or a better IPO

PE tends to gut startups and create a shit work environment

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114089)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 10:42 AM
Author: Seedy double fault

Hahaha yeah

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114126)



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Date: July 19th, 2025 10:42 AM
Author: aqua hospital toaster



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5752272&forum_id=2Reputation#49114127)