It may seem unbelievable on HN, but there are many shockingly stupid and hopeless tech startups in the Bay Area. Sometimes it's hard to tell upfront how bad thi

It may seem unbelievable on HN, but there are many shockingly stupid and hopeless tech startups in the Bay Area. Sometimes it's hard to tell upfront how bad things really are until you get hired. I signed up for a job last summer that I thought was going to be really cool. Awesome product, super fun "space," cool seeming co-workers and so forth. However, it turned out the boss was a sociopath and psychopath. The company was being sued by multiple customers. The boss was being sued by multiple former employees for harassment and withholding wages. The engineering manager was a pathological liar. The software was largely smoke and mirrors. It looked GREAT but was totally rotten on the inside. I persisted for 4 months but really all I got out of it was poor health and a bad attitude. I also missed a number of opportunities to work with other companies I had previously interviewed with. I really wish I would have quit after 3 weeks.