This is my experience of working with a startup. Is it the same elsewhere? The startup in question is an IoT startup, with hardware, embedded, software, cloud, ..AI. Coming from a hardware domain, I saw this as a chance to grow technically as well as in business and at the same time, make some money. While I did gain quite a bit of knowledge both as a product manager as well as on the technical front, there are several glaring red flags. 1. Constantly being lied to, about technology, funding status etc. 2. No technology [HW/SW etc] to speak of. I had to build it up from scratch with contractors. 3. Customers were being lied to. 4. Several barely ethical practices. [customer facing] 5. Payment for contractors in line 2 is still pending. 6. CEO vanishes during the most important times, especially during make or break situations. After some deliberation, I have decided to leave this company. If anyone has any openings in Bangalore, please let me know. Just wanted to vent and share my experience.
Mind sharing which startup?
No, I want to leave to protect myself. I don't want to hurt the others still with the company. Posting the name here will almost certainly tank the company.
Totally fair! Is it possible to share the space that you operate in/ high level description of the product that you sell? The reason I ask is because in some cases it may just be a factor of shifts in an industry, for instance, autonomous vehicle startups maybe more volatile to changes in the market than a service based on maybe. In any case, the experience you have is not common for a healthy startup. I hope you find your exit to a better landing space soon! Good luck man.
A lot of startups are started to make the founders and investors very rich. There are not that many great ideas out there and executing on them is even harder. So you do see a lot of fraudulent activity in this space. That is why it is important to only join after Series A with participation from top investors. The exception to this rule is if you have worked with the founders before and know that they are not of the machivellian type.
I made this mistake and paid for it. This is 100000% true. I have already posted on Blind that how they tortured me. The only regret is that I wasted 2 years of my life with these people
To be really safe join a startup only after series C and if they have a tested product on the market.
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No. It’s not the same everywhere.