
How to Recognize Dysfunctional Startup Leadership - borisfowler
http://www.caycon.com/blog/2011/06/how-to-recognize-dysfunctional-startup-leadership/
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wccrawford
The thing is, dysfunctional doesn't mean 'non-functional'.

A company I used to work for had a really great owner/etc, but their HR
practices were the pits. Any attempt to tell them so was met with 'That's how
everyone does it', even if it obviously wasn't.

The one time I brought something to their attention about someone above my
head, I was told I should have taken it to HR instead of the owners. The
person in question told me, "That's a serious charge. I could have lost my
job." ... Yeah, it was. And I was serious. I still think it was illegal to
this day, but I also don't think he's stupid enough to try it again, either,
now. Upper management waffled a bit, but in the end, they seemed to settle on
wishing I had not told them because they didn't want to do anything about it.

Despite all that, they are wildly successful.

~~~
trevelyan
What was the problem?

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astrofinch
"Advisors and staff hand-picked from friends and connections." Wait, so where
are advisors supposed to come from if not from friends/connections? Investors?

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jeffreymcmanus
Two of the six points here translate into "hire an expensive outside strategy
consulting firm". Sorry, nope.

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wnoise
s/startup//

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phlux
* The CEO's red porsche is paid for by the company

* The CEO, in addition to his regular pay, takes a commission cut on every sale the company makes

* The CIO's new BMW is also paid as an expense of the company

* The CEO shoots down your recommendation for a bonus to one of the best employees in your department and instead offers them a $200 gift card

* The CIO & CEO make uptime a priority objective for the service - but when a plan is presented that shows that in order to meet that goal, funding will be required to bolster infrastructure, they refuse to fund the plan

* The CIO regularly makes changes to the production systems outside of any change control process and brings down the service while muttering things like "Well that wasn't supposed to happen"

* The CEO and C-level execs tell the company the option price is $X - then proceed to sell the company and inform everyone that the option price is actually 20% of $X and that those who have been with the company less than a year get nothing

* There is a foosball table and this is described in any company descriptions as a part of the "Culture"

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strlen
* Your company claims to be a technology startup but has a "CIO" and an "IT department" that does the development.

That's generally a recipe for at best a horrible place to work, but most
usually a failure.

