Yes, the severance package is decent, but that’s not what this is about. Startups have been creating these cultures of “family” for years in order to have a cl

Yes, the severance package is decent, but that’s not what this is about. Startups have been creating these cultures of “family” for years in order to have a closer relationship to their employees than ever before. This closeness, as many other dynamics of the current labor system in the US, benefit the companies far more than the employees. The culture of “startup family” made it possible for companies like Theranos to lie to investors for so long while keeping their employees quiet. The “startup family” culture made it possible for companies like Uber to devolve into a misogynistic, harassment-driven behemoth coming from the top. The “startup family” culture convinced millions of employees to take lower salaries with the hope that their dead-last-liquidation-preference common shares would turn into a nest egg someday, while 99% of them never did. Most people never even ask or understand the terms of these agreements. That doesn’t sound like family to me.