Are Startups like this?

I’m looking for an internship. I already worked with a startup for 3 months which went fine. I’m in the “market” again but I had some weird experiences. Some of the interviews were too tough. One of them literally said “I’ll be sending u the offer letter” and then ghosted me. And one of them didn’t reply at all after the interview. 🥹

Hi everyone, I joined a startup back in May which started in May itself. I wrote the first line of code and it has been the backend work since then and have hired a few interns along the way. I took some pay cut to join this startup and i didn't receive any share/ESOPs as well in my offer letter. but whenever i talk to my friends who have worked or are working in these types of companies, ask me to ask for the ESOPs/equity from my founder. I did talk about equity/ESOPs before accepting my offer letter but that time, they said, you will be issued ESOPs later on when we raise some funding. We will make some ESOPs plan when we raise funding. I know that our company has only raised friends and family round of amount near to 1cr. Now I need advice on.. should i bring up this conversation again with the company's founder ? And how much percentage of equity should I be asking..? given that I am giving my 101% daily and leading the backend team.. although i have industry experience of only 3 years but have good academic achievements and has completed graduation in computer science in tier-1 college.

I want to share my experience as a fresher at Accenture, my first company from a college placement. The first six months were fine, but then I faced severe mental harassment from my supervisor and manager. She constantly criticized my work and gave negative feedback, causing me immense stress. I often skipped meals and worked weekends to improve, but nothing helped. Despite reporting the issue and requesting a supervisor change or a different track, my requests were ignored. The harassment worsened, affecting my physical health, and I couldn't eat or sleep properly. My manager controlled trivial aspects like where to sit and whom to talk to, making the situation unbearable. I was even forced to switch from a developer role to a tester, despite being trained as a developer. The final straw was being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) without a clear reason, with the same harassing individuals assessing me. I only had 1.9 years of experience then. I reported the mental harassment to HR and resigned due to deteriorating health, panic attacks, and weight loss. Despite having no other job offer, I couldn't continue. Even during my notice period, I was forced to complete PIP assignments, which led to suicidal thoughts and further health issues. Now, I am jobless, feeling helpless and frustrated. With less than 2 of experience, I struggle to find offers in a down IT market and don't know what to do next.

I recently worked at a startup and it was terrible. To be honest, I still worked at one of the better ones but it just sucked. Some of the clear downsides I see - Survival mode leads to chaos. You can be treated anyway and asked to leave whenever even though you left big opportunities to be here - Brand loss to find next job (Big problem) - Trying to make you feel unworthy(Doesn't bother me but I have seen people lose self confidence) - Loss of opportunity to build real skills like building sustainable teams for the long run I think over all working at a startup especially early teams is a losing proposition. Do it only if - - you know the founders/team well - you know the industry and market well and it is a bet you personally believe in - you are secure enough in life that if you go back to your job, you will easily get employed For middle class kids, startups are the worst bets one can take.

I used to work at a product-based company, joined as a fresher worked for 2 years, it was a perfect job, in the sense that there was little to no work related stress, decent pay, and all the perks you get at a typical big product company as an SDE. I decided to move out of my comfort zone and joined a bootstrapped startup. It sounded stupid when I left but I just wanted to experiment with working in a high-paced environment. 3 months in and I am very frustrated there is no sense of urgency even in a highly competitive space, all 3 co-founders are busy fundraising and rarely talk to us except for standups(which are also skipped regularly) most other team members(a total of 11) work like govt employees, no hunger, passion or curiosity. I joined because I love the problem they are solving and I am genuinely passionate about the industry and problem space but I don't even see 10% of the same passion in any of my other teammates they come in at 10 and leave by 4. Sorry for the long rant but need genuine advice, will things change after the fundraise and as an employee how do I raise my issues with company culture with co-founders without sounding too bossy and pissing off my other teammates.

Hi guys(Mainly HRs), Recently I applied to one SaaS company for the position-Solution Engineer/Implementation engineer, I had 2 rounds and was done with both the rounds. As I was expecting results, I got this mail from the previous round interviewer saying ( See the below/above image). It sounded very odd and strange to me and frustrating to hear this, I acknowledged it and mailed the interviewer and HR asking to give any constructive feedback if there were any; Until now they haven't responded back. I feel better now but obviously very disappointed with such a reply, can any one of u from startups/ HRs from start-up Please clarify - Is this the way Start-up rejects candidates or I got unlucky in this situation? Please help friends.

I’ve been working in a startup since last 8 months and I am exhausted. The team size is around 30 (frontend and backend). Some weekends are working too and there’s nothing like timings. I am left with nothing but just work, no other activities and no social life. Is it same with everyone working at a startup? Curious to know Ps - it is a work from office job!

Hey All I graduated in 2021 out of DU and parallely converted my internship with a preseries A fintech startup for a full-time role, pay was less that what I would've got in campus placements, but I prioritised steep learning curve or a 15k per month salary difference. After spending 15 months reporting directly to the ceo in a 150 member team, I resigned. Initially the pace was enjoyable, later on it became toxic. Moved to Bangalore and joined another start-up, didn't take a huge hike since I just wanted to start somewhere. After working here for 7 months, now I have much for focussed idea on what my strengths are and I'm working with experienced folks (avg 8+ years). I'm a 22 year old working in the founding team of pretty good product startup (funded by Kunal and bunch of other angels). Currently I'm at 6LPA, and would reach a 12LPA in thr next 3-4 months subject to fundraise, what I would like an opinion on is if after completing an year and we don't raise a round, do I stay? Or do I go back home and prepare for Gmat or CAT, then do aan expensive MBA by taking a loan? Or do I find another startup asking for a 12LPA? or do I try for a established company role in program management or partnerships or something? I don't have any family money or business to fall back on, but fortunately I didn't take a loan for my education yet, and my parents would be okay to give me another 2 more years to figure things out. Would appreciate help from anyone who've been in a similar journey or just any piece of advice. Thanks!

I am currently doing an SDE Internship in one of the startups in gurugram. Initially I was given a 6 month intern + full time offer, all went well, but in the last month this company is revoking full time offers of some interns and extending the intern offer to 3-4 months. What should I do in this case ? I am literally scared right now?