The interview process paints quite a different picture of the business compared to the reality of how it’s run.
The leadership team is weak and lacks direction, cohesion, vision or strategy, giving rise to a business with tunnel vision, whose significant focus is on whether targets will be met or not at month end. Any strategic discussions seemed to go around in circles, causing confusion and bad decision making.
Difficult to determine who actually runs the business, the VC company or the leadership team.
It’s operationally focussed, meaning the sole focus of management is on targets and KPI’s. Depending on the function, these can be unrealistic, unachievable and out of sync with the rest of the business.
There is significant staff churn and good people leave regularly. It wasn’t unusual for someone to leave every two weeks, and they often weren’t replaced, meaning teams were put under further strain.
There is an underlying culture of fear and blame, possibly because staff are seen to be so dispensable.
The business controls its spending tightly. There are pro’s and con’s of this. The con’s generally affecting the working conditions and environment.
