About 7.5 months ago, I was let go from a startup in one of the worst ways possible.
I was abused (yes, abused) by the founder for not working on a Saturday.
This was a job where I commuted 50km daily — 25km one way — and even Saturdays were working days. I left on terrible terms, and for weeks, I carried the weight of shame, confusion, and anger.
When I joined this company, I was full of hope.
I thought I’d finally found a place where I could grow professionally. The co-founders seemed impressive they had sold their previous company for a multi-million dollar amount (undisclosed, but rumored to be around $5-6M).
The founder took a chance on me, possibly because he saw my side projects, I’d built websites, done SEO, and freelanced. I was eager and hungry to prove myself.
But what I didn’t expect was the culture of fear.
The founder had serious anger issues.
People were yelled at, insulted, and discarded at a moment’s notice.
Co-founders left quietly, and so did team members.
HR was powerless.
Glassdoor reviews made sense after I joined.
When I completed 1 year, I got a 2% hike. I sent a respectful email to HR, expressing my disappointment. That’s when everything went downhill.
I was the only one forced to show up at different coworking spaces while everyone else worked from home. I was micromanaged, publicly criticized, and constantly made to feel like I wasn’t enough — all because I spoke up.
And one day, after working late and submitting deliverables on a Saturday night, I was screamed at for not working the “full” Saturday. That was the last straw. I was fired in a vulgar, degrading manner — asked to return the laptop and leave. It took 2 more months of follow-ups to even get my final paycheck and experience letter.
But you know what?
That toxic layoff was the best thing that happened to me.
It forced me to slow down, attend my sister’s wedding, and rebuild my confidence. A month later, I landed a great job in a B2B SaaS company just 5km from my house.
The culture? 10x better. The people? Supportive.
I have time for my family, and for once, I have a life outside of work.
I started picking up hobbies again — gaming (got myself a second-hand PS4), learning UI/UX design, and just being present in the moment.
If you’re reading this and stuck in a toxic workplace, hear me out:
It’s not your fault. You are not what your boss says you are. And yes, it gets better.
It won’t happen overnight, but trust that you’ll find a place where you’re valued, respected, and treated like a human being.
Being let go isn’t always a failure — sometimes, it’s just life pushing you toward something better.
Unless you share the company name , all I can say this is a trash and a lie. Just grapevine is making all these posts manually. Not organic at all.
Agree
Agree
Please name the company. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen to others again
Probably blick their slack workspace
Bhai which AI tool did you use to create this post?
This is happening in India (this problem is acccentuated in India)for two reasons:
a. more job seekers than jobs (hugely skewed)
b. our work culture is to reward people who spend 10-12 hours in office, even when they are not working
This needs to be fixed.
Good decision. And congratulations on getting it of that toxic workplace
unless the name is shared, it's just a made up story
I also want to say: Thank you to everyone who reached out and showed support. But I won’t be naming the company.
Because I’ve moved on. And quite frankly, they haven’t.
To this day, I still get calls from ex-employees crying about how bad things are, and some folks still stalk my profile religiously on LinkedIn. I wrote this post because I know there are people out there who might be going through something similar. I don’t want to give them more power by naming them.
And honestly, I don’t think the company will even survive another couple of years at this pace. They were struggling to pay salaries on time (mine would be delayed till the 10th or 11th), and there’s no real leadership left. So you couldn't join even if you wanted to.
Dude I appreciated your effort in writing long para.... But still you it's very unethical from your side towards are public of Grapevine that you are somehow trying your best to mask the company and keep it to yourself.... And that's very opposite of what you should be doing... So it's better that u tell us the company name itself
Bro just cry in silence, we can't be of any help , everybody is asking you to name. Why are you chickening out when there's no fault of your own
One more such company is Aerchain in Bangalore. Absolutely stay away from it. I quit without having a job few weeks back
I am currently working as a senior engineer at a startup (yoe 6+).
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Jan 2024 update - Got silent laid off from EY. Anyone else going through the same trauma? How to heal?
29F, IIT & IIM grad. Thought I had it all figured out. Boy, was I wrong.
Post-grad, I went full-on hustle mode. Guru worship 24/7. Gary Vee, desi "entrepreneurs" on Insta - you name it, I followed. Their mantra? Work 20hrs, sleep 4, c...
oh please. another startup founder crying about how hard they have it. give me a break. you know what's hard? work...
Look, I've been in VC for years. Seen this story play out too many times. It's tough. We pushed too hard before....
Thanks for sharing your story man. Shows us that its not all only uphill in life, there are downshifts as well
