Agree with your points. There are plenty of smart people in the org all trying to do the best they can. There is a sink or swim mentality, which can be effect

Agree with your points. There are plenty of smart people in the org all trying to do the best they can. There is a sink or swim mentality, which can be effective, but as the company grows it’s tougher to reward the swimmers and not have their work obfuscated by politicians. It’s also tough to promote cross team collaboration in this environment. Building something from nothing is tough, and so is turning an elite team into multiple elite teams. It strikes me as the latter gets less focus in SV since it is much less frequent and goes against the entrepreneurial grain. It’s easier to bash large companies than to think about how to actually build one. I recognize that I’m likely missing relevant factors, but some of the key problems seem to be a flat org, no VP of engineering, and no encouragement of cross team work. When managing people, you really need to meet with more than one level below you. In a flat org, with 20 people reporting to the CEO and 40 people reporting to each of them, there is no way for the CEO to meet with all 800 people. The CEO just ends up having to blindly trust his or her direct reports that everything is good. A few bad ones can result in large sections of the company rotting from within. Promoting cross team collaboration is tough. A company needs to emphasize this in how it promotes / rewards people and crafts the org chart. Easier said than done, but no VP of Engineering and directors promoting loyalists with no emphasis on helping other teams doesn’t help. Having multiple directors involved in promotions may help. I like the CEO and think that he does care. He may be able to fix things, but unfortunately I don’t see it happening. I am tired of hearing everyone complain and find myself getting angry at nice people that I like due to bad incentives. My only option is to vote with my feet. He can trust his ‘Generals’ but thankfully this isn’t the military and I can leave. The grass may or may not be greener, but I’d rather take a chance on change than the status quo. Putting in my notice was an amazing relief.