Why to not work in a startup in Sweden (part 3)

This is part 3 of 4 on the positives and negatives on working in a startup in Sweden.  You might wish to read about part 1 first.

As mentioned previously the timeline leading to today have caused me to leave the Titanic.  Here are the reasons why I will not work in this particular startup ever again.

Lack of money
During my first interview I asked the CEO about the finances of the company.  He pretty much told me that if they spent nothing on marketing they have enough money to last one year.  Which means the company will continuously need funding.  That is not a good sign.  Money (Capital) is the lifeblood of any company.  But I thought it might be a good experience to join anyway, since I have never been in a true startup environment.

But please, work for me anyway!

Why to not work in a startup in Sweden (part 2)

This is part 2 of 4 on the positives and negatives on working in a startup in Sweden.  You might wish to read about part 1 first.

Since joining a startup in Sweden, it has been nothing sort of a slow sinking Titanic.  I'm glad to say that I'll be leaving for greener pastures and have learnt a lot during these 7 insufferable months.  Let's try to create the timeline events leading up to this point.

May
Resignations: 0
I joined on the 8th of May and spent pretty much the first month looking for an apartment.  Was introduced to the team including two additional people who I have not met previously, a Macedonian, let's call him "Mocka" and a Russian, let's call him "Pushkin".  There was also an Egyptian named "Mohammed" and a Bangladeshi, let's call him "Shafiq".  I thought things were a bit weird with Shafiq when he was asking me pretty simple questions that I knew as a graduate, but cast that aside.  These 5 were part of the development team, including me.  And the team leader, let's call him "Lenin", was in Russia for "personal reasons".  So 6 in total, but there were no Swedes in the team, which was a big red flag to me.  We also had a marketing team, but let's put that aside.  Our product manager was called "Fred", his real name.

June
Resignations: 0
I went galloping around London and Belgium, moved into my new apartment and witnessed the first disastrous deployment of the company's website where nothing worked.  I have never witnessed such insanity in all of my working professional career.  Mocka and I looked were looking a problem when the website was deployed only to be told by Fred that it was a "waste of time for two people to be looking at a problem".  Lenin, our great team leader in Russia, asked me to write a document on how to improve the process, which I did.

Pretends to know about software development.

Why work in a startup in Sweden (part 1)

Since my startup experience in Sweden is about to end, I thought I would list down the lessons learnt from joining one.  Why you should join one, if it interests you.  Personally I would never join a startup in Sweden ever again, likening it to the Titanic, but here's my take on the good points.  Afterall there is always good in something, even if it wasn't what you expected it to be.

Super flexible environment
This is a big plus for me, there are no real rigid hours.  Sure, there might be core hours, but even those can be bent.  This is Sweden afterall.  People in my office arrived late, and no one really cared or bothered.  Some would disappear during office hours, and no one really cared or bothered.

You get the point.

Leaving the Titanic

It's almost Christmas time and I've been in Sweden more than 7 months now.  How time flies.  I've found a new job and will leave my present company most likely at the end of February.  To say it has been a rollercoaster ride is nothing short of insanity.  From drunk colleagues to people who simply refuse to ever show up to work on time to on-the-spot firings, this has been hands down the worst company I've ever worked for.  Everyday was like living in Trump's "The Apprentice: Swedish Edition" and comparable to real life Dilbert.  In fact I swear at times there's a camera living somewhere in the office recording our movements.

The Apprentice: Swedish Edition on Earth 2, without the hot girl.

Promoted at work

So me and two other guys got new titles at work.  I'm now "Scrum Master".  Note that I'm never a person to go with titles.  Afterall I already own Skyjuice Software and can call myself anything I want.  But now as a "Scrum Master" I have to take charge in leading the team, getting them to follow the process of how to develop software properly.

New title, more responsibility.

But why did I volunteer to take lead of the process?  Well simply because it was a complete disaster before.  Saying it was a disaster was an understatement actually, the team was run by someone who was a complete incompetent fool who did not even know how software is properly developed.

Can you survive a layoff?

So I was informed in confidence with regards to some terrible news.  Some people I may know will be fired soon but the exact details are yet to be determined.

Can you survive a... ?

I'm not inclined to say more except all of them have families and it's going to be quite tough on them.  What's worse is that they will not be told directly but be put on some sort of improvement program which will lead to them leaving the company anyway no matter how well they perform.  It's frankly rather stupid to be wasting their time as well as the company's time.  All of this is simply political.  So the clock is ticking for them and if I were them I would probably just leave because they have no future at the company.

  

Two weddings and no funeral

I have left Sweden and am currently in Singapore for two weddings, my cousin's and my brother's.  My cousin's was on the 4th of September and that was held at the W Sentosa, which is rather posh.  I have to say all of this poshness isn't for me.  That's the contemporary trend in Singapore, to have a posh wedding in a posh hotel with plenty of guests.  Maybe it's the non Asian in me speaking, but I would rather have mine at the top of a mountain with the bride and a photographer.

My brother's wedding was held at the Four Seasons hotel on the 11th of September.  The food was pretty similar to my cousin's, it was good but I wouldn't pay that much for it.  If you ask me frankly weddings today are just exorbitant especially the ones in Singapore.  I don't see the point in spending so much money for a wedding, wouldn't it be more prudent to save it for a nice honeymoon or future expenses?