The worst experience of my professional career
Pros
Great staff of intelligent and hardworking young people that really want to make a difference. You meet some fascinating entrepreneurs that are creating the future
Cons
- Completely insane, immature and incompetent leadership. This was largely due to the CEO Cameron Teitelman. I've recently heard that StartX hired a new CEO and I certainly hope they did. Cameron was basically the main problem with StartX and his inexperience as a leader and immaturity was basically a boat anchor to improvement. Nothing would change until Cameron left and perhaps his departure will turn StartX around. - Stanford - if you did not attend Stanford, you're treated very differently than the "Stanford kids" - It was basically a rotating carousel of people. Departures were abrupt. It was a running joke that everyone was standing in line waiting for their turn to be dogged out by the CEO. It was sadly true. - No adult presence at the helm. Once again ties in to the poor leadership at the top. - The expectation that you'll spend evenings and weekends hanging out at the StartX place. Not everyone is a 21 year old and wants to spend time chilling with college students. Some people want to go home and enjoy their lives - Completely disorganized. If StartX were ever audited by the IRS or the state, the org would be in SERIOUS trouble. - Great program for entrepreneurs (we put on a great show!) - but an awful place to actually work.
