Thanks for your comment trizk. I think you capture what I mostly feel in my gut. I really do feel like the CEO really believes in the company to a fault. His gift and curse seems to be that of a hyper-visionary; what he sees in the company doesn't jive with my reality of the company. He has expressed remorse for the situation, but at this point he's lost my trust; I now read his remorse as mere bluffing. Not that I believe he was out to maliciously defraud, I just see this as the outcome of poor judgment and incompetence.
You are right, I did assume risk in joining the startup. That was not apparent to me at the time because it was not really communicated, but now I know. Looking back, I see a lot of "I should have known" moments. The lesson is that one should not look to the leaders of the company to look out for their interest.
It's likely the founder is a visionary without a pragmatic streak. Conferences and iPhones is what you give your developers when you're too optimistic about future business.
The founder is unlikely to be aware of his poor judgement. I know this, because I've made the same mistake. Tempering vision wih pragmatism is hard, especially if you achieve early success.
If your founder doesn't admit fault and put in a solid plan to turn the business around, leave.
Comments
Thanks for your comment trizk. I think you capture what I mostly feel in my gut. I really do feel like the CEO really believes in the company to a fault. His gift and curse seems to be that of a hyper-visionary; what he sees in the company doesn't jive with my reality of the company. He has expressed remorse for the situation, but at this point he's lost my trust; I now read his remorse as mere bluffing. Not that I believe he was out to maliciously defraud, I just see this as the outcome of poor judgment and incompetence.
You are right, I did assume risk in joining the startup. That was not apparent to me at the time because it was not really communicated, but now I know. Looking back, I see a lot of "I should have known" moments. The lesson is that one should not look to the leaders of the company to look out for their interest.
It's likely the founder is a visionary without a pragmatic streak. Conferences and iPhones is what you give your developers when you're too optimistic about future business.
The founder is unlikely to be aware of his poor judgement. I know this, because I've made the same mistake. Tempering vision wih pragmatism is hard, especially if you achieve early success.
If your founder doesn't admit fault and put in a solid plan to turn the business around, leave.