Lots of negativity in this thread. I've been there too; plenty of companies I've worked for have blown sunshine while it feels like we're headed straight for th

Lots of negativity in this thread. I've been there too; plenty of companies I've worked for have blown sunshine while it feels like we're headed straight for the cliffs. The fundamental problem, I think, is that there's frequently an imperfect understanding of the scope of the truth. Missing the sales number feels like the company is failing. But is this a blip, because 2 big deals flaked? Or is this a systematic inability of the sales team to build urgency? 3 of your best engineers quit. All of them have personal reasons for leaving, but was it really because they had started drifting when a director didn't deal with that toxic team 6 months ago? Most of the time, nobody knows. And even if they think they do, they're just guessing and confident. In a practical way, the only thing that really matters is that you have a plan everybody believes in. Telling the truth is crucial, because otherwise your plan feels out of touch. Unfortunately (and this is especially true at startups), nobody knows exactly how the company will go in the next 2-5 years. But you still have to acknowledge the narrow facts and find a narrative that's consistent with them. It always feels optimistic and silly. It always feels like spin. The alternative is to hunker down and pull a salary until the truth is that the company is filing for bankruptcy, at which point the naysayers will have been right all along.