Product requirements were sprawling and unfocused. Nobody was entirely sure what the business model of the company was, or if there was one, or what our quarterly goals were. We did know that we had to work harder to provide new features so that we could get new clients. Feature requirements were sometimes expected to be finished and deployed the same week they were announced.
Then, without warning, they missed a payroll date. The exec team said this would be a temporary road bump, and we would be paid shortly. Weeks went by and there was always another excuse. Multiple times executives said that they were just signing paperwork to complete loans or investments, or that there were multiple investors lining up to give money to the company. When employees asked for details on the corporate loans, replies were vague and laden with derision. Investors and terms were never named, it was never divulged why it was taking months to pay employees after the executives claimed the money was practically already in the bank. Meanwhile, months without pay, the employees were asked to continue working hard, if not harder, because so many others had quit to feed their families.
Eventually the executives stopped communicating with the employees altogether. They informed the employees that health insurance would be cancelled on the same day in a one sentence written statement.
I get the sense that the company never had a clear path to revenue and assumed that it could raise money for a significant period into the future. Because of that, they never had to design a coherent, revenue driven product. When that strategy failed, they handled the situation in the worst possible way. I think that if they were more transparent and honest from the start, a lot more people would have worked harder to save the company. Instead they showed no loyalty to their employees, and treated them with disdain for asking questions.
