I keep hearing stories from agencies and dev shops about treating employees like numbers on a balance sheet. It makes me wonder: how do founders so easily transition from nurturing and protecting their teams—often to the point of creating overly cozy environments where mediocrity thrived and unacceptable behaviors were overlooked—during prosperous times to running things with a cold, iron fist when challenges arise? Or hiring someone else to play the “bad cop” under the guise of financial optimization.
Adjusting strategy or shifting course is sometimes necessary. But what’s inexcusable is the refusal to learn from past mistakes, the constant distortion of reality, and the shameless twisting of marketing narratives.
During the good times, companies acted as if their teams were made up of top-tier players—even though anyone who could string a few buzzwords together in an interview was hired. Now, as the market shifts, they claim to pivot toward consulting or emphasize “deep expertise,” even as staff churns with every new project, leaving no institutional knowledge behind. The irony is especially glaring when these same companies boast about their “vibrant remote culture” while refusing to invest even minimal resources in real-world team gatherings—not even an annual holiday party to let colleagues finally meet face-to-face.
The same old shortcuts aimed at quick wins continue to surface: instead of setting realistic goals and working steadily toward them, it’s a frantic scramble for any opportunity to make a quick buck.
I’ve never heard a smart business leader advocate short-term profit optimization as a viable long-term strategy. All it seems to lead to is endless scheming and constant reorganization.
If there’s a lesson here, it’s this: sustainable growth comes from building on solid foundations, not from chasing every shiny, short-lived opportunity that comes along.