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I'm a startup co-founder (~100 ppl working in the team now). Had this kind of stuff happen before. Two options: 1. Your observations are correct and you are n

I'm a startup co-founder (~100 ppl working in the team now). Had this kind of stuff happen before. Two options: 1. Your observations are correct and you are not getting the recognition you deserve and there is an a-hole managing you. 2. Your observations are incorrect and you think you're entitled to more that you really are, making you the a-hole. Regardless what is the reality you need to talk to the founders. We are sometimes oblivious to what is happening in the team and cannot see everything. I keep all my employees that raise the voice in extremely high regard - they want to improve something. I will however do some exploration after such report and figure out what I feel is the truth and how I want to react on this. I've had people report stuff that was good on surface, but further exploration pointed me that I do not want to side with them. I've explained my view to the reportee and implemented actions (if applicable). When you talk don't do it in an a-hole way (eg. Team Lead is a dick), but let them know you're having problems (you feel your work is not appreciated, you're trying your best, you're burning out and you don't know what to do, even thinking of quitting). Explain what is happening, but try not to name names. Any good founder/CEO will figure out quickly what's the problem. The founders action will tell you what they think - do they agree with 1. or 2. If nothing happens that would solve your problems, change careers. It's sad that you worked your ass off, but that probably means that they went with option 2. it means that this environment is not right for you. Good news is that if you're really a high performer, you should have no problems finding a new gig and kicking ass there.

ellimilial 7y ago
Just a nitpick that this is the approach that benefits mostly the founders, not yourself. You are likely going to invest a lot of time and put yourself under an emotional strain for a very unlikely possibility that a) they will agree with you b) will consider this enough of an issue to invest time in resolving. If you and the founders had good enough relationships to warrant such an investment on your side, you would not be in this situation in the first place.
- luka-birsa 7y ago
  It benefits both. Me, as a founder, will get an insight into what is happening and I can implement policies / work to change the culture / fire people in order to make it right. There is a clear incentive for me, since a functioning company is more likely to succeed. But there might be also an incentive for the OP. If you care about what you've built / want to continue working in the same company / want to get the recognition you deserve you can go to the founder/CEO and let them know what you think. It's not a hard thing to do (eg: just book a 30 minute slot with them) and let them know how you feel. I've seen all of the above motivations and I think that these are more important than financial ones. Seen friends, engineers in other companies, torn apart due to the fact that they just couldn't stay in the company where they really wanted to be due to some bad actor. Those are the cases where management / founders don't see the actor the same way as an employee does.
  - yowlingcat 7y ago
    No, it benefits you. Remember, if you as a founder had done a good enough job of building your organization, these sorts of situations would be happening rarely if at all. The fact that it is happening is a sign that something has gone wrong. To expect the employee who is suffering the brunt of that dysfunction to put in the hard work to even tell you what's going on is a tall ask. But to expect them to do so for a little to no reward? It goes along with their past treatment sadly, and it proves that leadership is not proactive.
    - ceautery 7y ago
      Individual contributor here. How “good” a founder is doesn’t fix relationships across the organization. Communication and people management are very hard to get right. I’ve been angry at a founder or two, but holding them accountable for every issue in the trenches is ridiculous.
      - bitL 7y ago
        There are techniques taught at top business schools that deal with these issues and how to design an organization that actively encourages or suppresses certain traits; look up principal-agent problem, rotating leadership, voting out team leads teams don't like (Apple) etc. The problem is that at startups there aren't such managers, tech in general gets some of the worst managers out there and founders typically "know better" to learn from somebody else.
- deleted 7y ago
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gerbilly 7y ago
> try not to name names. Definitely do name names. Don't you think the tech lead will when they go ask him about it? Why pussyfoot around the issue? A start-up I worked at went through this after I left. An asshole team-lead chased away 2/3 of the original development team. Sometimes it is personal.
- luka-birsa 7y ago
  Starting with "X is a Dick" will be less effective than "I'm having problems delivering, can you please help me - looks like my manager is running me to the ground". Thats all I'm saying. You're probably more likely to salvage the relationship if you position it as process issues and give the Lead some room to walk back. Even tho it is usually personal.

ellimilial 7y ago

Just a nitpick that this is the approach that benefits mostly the founders, not yourself. You are likely going to invest a lot of time and put yourself under an emotional strain for a very unlikely possibility that a) they will agree with you b) will consider this enough of an issue to invest time in resolving. If you and the founders had good enough relationships to warrant such an investment on your side, you would not be in this situation in the first place.

luka-birsa 7y ago
It benefits both. Me, as a founder, will get an insight into what is happening and I can implement policies / work to change the culture / fire people in order to make it right. There is a clear incentive for me, since a functioning company is more likely to succeed. But there might be also an incentive for the OP. If you care about what you've built / want to continue working in the same company / want to get the recognition you deserve you can go to the founder/CEO and let them know what you think. It's not a hard thing to do (eg: just book a 30 minute slot with them) and let them know how you feel. I've seen all of the above motivations and I think that these are more important than financial ones. Seen friends, engineers in other companies, torn apart due to the fact that they just couldn't stay in the company where they really wanted to be due to some bad actor. Those are the cases where management / founders don't see the actor the same way as an employee does.
- yowlingcat 7y ago
  No, it benefits you. Remember, if you as a founder had done a good enough job of building your organization, these sorts of situations would be happening rarely if at all. The fact that it is happening is a sign that something has gone wrong. To expect the employee who is suffering the brunt of that dysfunction to put in the hard work to even tell you what's going on is a tall ask. But to expect them to do so for a little to no reward? It goes along with their past treatment sadly, and it proves that leadership is not proactive.
  - ceautery 7y ago
    Individual contributor here. How “good” a founder is doesn’t fix relationships across the organization. Communication and people management are very hard to get right. I’ve been angry at a founder or two, but holding them accountable for every issue in the trenches is ridiculous.
    - bitL 7y ago
      There are techniques taught at top business schools that deal with these issues and how to design an organization that actively encourages or suppresses certain traits; look up principal-agent problem, rotating leadership, voting out team leads teams don't like (Apple) etc. The problem is that at startups there aren't such managers, tech in general gets some of the worst managers out there and founders typically "know better" to learn from somebody else.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

gerbilly 7y ago

> try not to name names. Definitely do name names. Don't you think the tech lead will when they go ask him about it? Why pussyfoot around the issue? A start-up I worked at went through this after I left. An asshole team-lead chased away 2/3 of the original development team. Sometimes it is personal.

luka-birsa 7y ago
Starting with "X is a Dick" will be less effective than "I'm having problems delivering, can you please help me - looks like my manager is running me to the ground". Thats all I'm saying. You're probably more likely to salvage the relationship if you position it as process issues and give the Lead some room to walk back. Even tho it is usually personal.