Celia Arias says her tech roles felt fake and she realized some startups would hire workers, build a brand that looked good on paper, then fire the team and sell the company

Denis Bolkovskis

Mental Health

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Celia Arias is a founder and business operations expert who worked in the tech industry for several years. She believes some startups just hire people so the company can look good before being sold. Arias was earning $130,000 at her second "fake" tech job.

I earned up to $130K in tech roles, but the jobs felt fake. Here's why I think startups hire people to build a brand only to fire them later on.

My ideas were never implemented and things started to crumble

After that job, I worked for another venture capital funded tech startup

PR disguised as content. “Feels fake” means nothing.

Super interesting. I currently work at a startup and I’m happy to say I pretty sure my job is not fake.😅 A real shame some people go through stuff like that though. 🙏

How does a job “feel fake” exactly?
Like you were paid but not expected to work? Don’t think that would be wise to complain about and few would.
You felt the people you worked with were inauthentic and shallow? That’s a cultural issue no one person can solve for anyone but themselves.
Something tells me this is a back handed form of bragging and simultaneously dismissing aspects of startups that could otherwise paint you in a bad light, which I guess I understand the impulse there but I think people are wiser everyday to that tactic and by doing this you are giving them the hint of where to look for your flaws in a big way.
That this is to serve a job hunt is evident in that professional photograph portrait that is the preview image. Talk about feeling fake…

While many people may feel disappointed by this article, I personally agree with its message. I have worked for companies that prioritize sales and marketing over product quality, leading them to offer nothing but empty promises. Whenever attempts were made to improve the product, management was too preoccupied with their personal lives and spending investor funds. My advice is to avoid these types of companies at all costs.

I have two thoughts on the article. First, I think the premise is true some of the time. The second thought is that how it ends with “and now I have my own business…LINK” almost feels like the point of the article was to drive the writer’s business.
Why do I think the premise is valid? Many startups eye valuation and a sale price at inception. They want the company to look good to buyers. That means having people in roles on paper that may not be performing those roles in reality. The startups I worked for didn’t build a foundation. They built a house on stilts, propping it up just long enough to make someone think it was worth something and buy it.