Pros
The people were the best part of the experience, genuinely kind, smart, and hardworking. There were many strong individual contributors doing their best to make things work despite the environment.
Cons
The core issue was the CEO. She micromanaged to an extreme degree, inserting herself into day-to-day decisions in a way that created constant bottlenecks and slowed execution across the company. It felt like the company had grown well beyond her ability to effectively lead it. There was little evidence of meaningful forecasting or long-term planning, and decisions often felt reactive rather than strategic. The most telling example was continued hiring right up until a major layoff in January 2025 that impacted a large portion of the company.