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Source of toxicity/burnout

I think I have an hypothesis of what’s the root cause of the toxicity at workplaces. Especially startups, but this theory should be extended to big companies as well. Step 1: Putin starts the war Step 2: Inflation increases, to combat it federal reserve of USA increases interest rates Step 3: the capital in the funding eco system(vcs) gets diminished, because they don’t have access to low interest money. Step 4: company ceos start to do layoffs, starts putting pressure on teams to reduce the audit findings, release things quickly etc Because you need to make money to survive Step 5: directors (tech and product) start putting pressure on Engineering managers Step 6: Engineering managers and product owners start putting pressure on us(normies), where our estimates get challenged, work will be micro managed or hyper optimized to the point you feel like you are not respected nor you opinion. You start to think whether it’s really worth staying here or you need to find a different job. Then you find that no one’s really hiring or the ones that are hiring are lowballing you. You cannot really quit, because you have monthly EMIs and don’t really have a runway. You become disengaged with work, and start doing the bare minimum to stay float. At this point, the pressure you have been getting increases because the expectations are high, but you don’t care anymore Now you are burned out, and you really start thinking if you chose the right career.

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GaddiyanUchiyan

Viacom18

6 months ago

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Software Engineers on

by Shratterjack

Series B Startup

Side Effects of working at startups

I am a 6 yrs experienced Software developer and part of a mid-stage startup. This is my third job; I have been working here for 3 years. I was involved here as one of the core engineers at the start in developing the overall platform, After that, my growth as an engineer stagnated for 2 years . Constant importance and priority are given to business requirements and hacky work getting pushed to production in the name of fast iterations and business impact every week. My engineering manager lacks proper engineering skills and doesn't respect engineers even after their impact on the company and constantly keeps saying the engineering team doesn't contribute to the revenue of the company despite us pushing work that improves business positively. Last year around November, around 80% of the engineering team was subtly suggested to start looking out for work (basically a soft layoff) because management was too scared of a social media backlash Due to all this,2 years' worth of technical debt has accumulated on the overall codebase and apart from giving justification for every code improvement that we try to make there, we still have to work on business/product requirements. My growth as an engineer has stopped and I am worried about missing out on the latest developments in the tech industry, especially with AI in the picture, and want to make my skillset somewhat AI-proof. I have come back to hands-on coding this year , so that's a positive start. I am considering taking a 3-4 month break after resigning from my company to study, develop side projects, develop a portfolio etc Has anyone else been in this boat ? How did you come out strong?

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Indian Startups on

by RealGenZ

Stealth

People way overestimate the life of founders

IIT grad here building a venture backed startup. I think 99% of folks here believe that venture backed founders are super entitled and in a much "cosier" position than employees Just sharing a few facts about our journey so far if it helps anyone improve their perspectives- 1) Paying ourselves 33% of our campus salary & 60% of what we are paying to our employees (Talking about Pure Base Salary here, not including ESOPs) 2) Insane stress - You basically have to raise money to build (esp if its deeptech because of the high fixed costs) and there are predefined metrics you have to always chase, sometimes just beyond yourselves. Your product will be copied if it's good because well, they always have more money than you. You work 7 days a week for insane hours, chasing metrics required to be "afloat" 3) 99% of venture backed startups result in 0 liquidity gain for founders. So basically in all likeliness, everything is for a net negative return compared to if we took the campus job So, when you wholeheartedly bash founders as if they are sitting On a goldmine while you are toiling for THEIR gold Treasure, just understand that more likely than not, there is not really any gold but rather an irrational hope they are clinging to Also, Yes-we pay above market to our employees (100% hike for the last one) but the truth is some startups just Can't afford it. And ironically, there is a much higher looking down on these startups with meagurely paid founders rather than giants like Tech Mahindra paying peanuts to their employees while having a 1000% salary hike for the executives. Yeah, most startups need to do better but please appreciate if someone is atleast trying to do better because trust me, it's INSANELY HARD.. The number of posts I see about Flipkart making hundreds millionaires is way too less than the ones I see about pinpointing at every single mistake early stage startups do & I just wanted to express my opinion on it Peace!

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Indian Startups on

by hellotherehappy

Stealth

I'm laying myself off. Indian start-ups have killed my sense of purpose

Why: I know that with all the job layoffs happening, it's kinda stupid to quit but I just can't. After almost a decade in the startup scene I'm taking a break, probably for good. From AI to B2C to ed-tech and more I have worked with startups at every stage of growth and across sectors. Almost in every one of these w/o exception, I have experienced burnout, mindless pressure, and being underpaid because I'm not from an IIT or IIM. Context: I love technology, I have been a sci-fi nerd since school and I threw myself into the stories of startups changing the world. But because of family finances and the overall culture of startups I haven't taken a break in about 10 years and it's starting to show. I don't have savings to last me more than 3-4 months but at this rate I'll end up checking out of society. Unsolicited advice: 1) Most startups and the VCs that back them know they're going to fail but don't internalise their failure as yours. 2) Always, always take care of your mental + physical health. Doesn't matter if you're intern and you're expected to slog 12-15 hours in the name of learning. 3) I missed moments with my ageing mom and dad, school friends and just time to read and relax because I was afraid of missing out on "networking" and "office night outs". Fuck all that, it is and it will always be family and frit first. Finally, Fuck all you hustle bro CEOs, they have done more to damage the mentor health of a generation more than any politician. I feel stupid and useless because you can't help posturing and creating panic in the name of disruption. Hope AI takes your jobs too. PS: See you on the other side.

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Product Managers on

by SarcasticNinja

Unemployed

Contemplating my decision making

So, i'm on the job hunt again & i spend a good chunk of my day thinking about the decisions i have made. 1. Quit my first job at Digit insurance because the work was super monotonous. Wanted to try something different. 2. Discovered product management, started doing cases, eventually got an internship- Gap of 6 months 3. Did internships at a solar company & Shiprocket, then got a full time APM job at a logistics firm- salary bump of 4X 4. Learned that my mother had complications on her knee surgery, got severely sick & would require constant care. Quit my job to take care of her for 6 months. 5. Explored an idea of mentorship platform, validated with 100+ people but couldn't start due to feasibility problems. Got an offer from Cashkaro next as APM- Gap of 6 months Total gap so far- 18 months 6. Quit cashkaro on may due to very disrespectful culture(created specifically by founders), authority over influence, severe communication gap between tech & product(no standups, no meetings, no updates) 7. Looking for opportunities again- current gap of 3 months already What are your views on this? Anything i could've done better? I'm asking because no matter how hard I try to explain the gaps, the eyebrows are always raised. Getting rejected left & right, 70% of the jobs are secured for tier-1 folks & for the rest, it feels like you have to Ranbir Kapoor in Animal with Arjan vaily playing in the background(just slaughter everyone to go through) Would appreciate your views