Sales first org with CSMs being the scapegoats
Pros
Free food, cab drop at night
Cons
Leadership is resistant to feedback and accountability, leading to stagnant processes, poor execution, and a deteriorating work culture. A pervasive blame culture exists, where leadership and management deflect planning and execution failures onto individual contributors, often using them as scapegoats. Severe misalignment between Sales, Engineering, and Customer Success—Sales regularly commits to features and capabilities that are not built, not scoped, or not even known to Engineering. Customer Success teams inherit broken promises, resulting in churn from day one, after which CSMs are unfairly held responsible for customer attrition caused upstream. No clear or structured career growth path, making advancement arbitrary and inconsistent across teams. Favoritism outweighs merit, and job titles hold little value—junior and senior employees frequently perform the same work without distinction or progression. Critical thinking and process improvement are discouraged, particularly when proposing changes to legacy systems or challenging ineffective leadership decisions. Employees who demonstrate initiative or strategic thinking are viewed as competition rather than assets, leading to stalled growth and disengagement. Overall lack of strategic direction, creating a “free-for-all” environment that prioritizes short-term optics over long-term sustainability.
