Toxic leadership; don't fall for their brand (founders and employees)
Pros
-Some nice coworkers -Some interesting work initially -Exposure to startups across industries
Cons
-Founders are the product. Do not fall for the marketing tactics of the organization claiming to be "mission driven." They use this to give below market pay, small bonuses, no advancement -Genuinely toxic leadership that does not value its employees -Opportunities for growth within the company are non-existent -Camaraderie and collaboration among employees is difficult to achieve -CEO lacks loyalty, empathy, and concern for staff, and her presentation of herself is inconsistent with her behavior -New program for underrepresented founders is a shallow attempt at creating marketing content to show that the company cares about minorities. Despite the hype surrounding the program, it's light on substance and doesn't provide the necessary support and resources that underrepresented founders need to succeed. Program is nothing more than a surface-level effort to make Techstars look good, while failing to address the systemic issues that underrepresented groups face in the tech industry. -"Give first:" another marketing tactic to push back on founders when they ask for any help after finishing program -Many high ego employees, specifically Managing Directors -Many people in management roles who should not be managing people and clearly have not received any training. (I had four managers during my tenure, three of whom were disasters)
