From a Thriving Startup Culture to a Toxic Work Environment - Product Manager Level Access Employee Review

My experience at the company was excellent until Level Access acquired it. While it was still eSSENTIAL Accessibility, the company had a strong startup culture. There was a focus on continuous learning and genuine employee care. However, after the acquisition, everything changed drastically. As the processes from both companies began to merge, I found myself working 10 to 11 hours a day. Initially, I thought this would be a temporary situation due to the transition, but it dragged on for months. The pressure to deliver results to investors became overwhelming, and the previously supportive startup culture was replaced by one of fear and constant stress. Despite the long hours, the workload kept increasing. I was managing a large product area and frequently requested my manager to divide the responsibilities, but he consistently refused. In addition to overseeing multiple existing products with various features, I was also developing a new product from scratch. With no VP or Product Director in place, our Chief Product Officer (CPO) acted as my direct manager. Naturally, he didn’t have enough time to provide proper guidance and this lack of continuity and support became a recurring issue. When the product I was working on became critical to the company's success, the CPO began to publicly challenge my prioritization decisions during meetings with other team members. However, he never offered assistance or clear guidance on how to improve the situation. At one point, he made a comment implying that if I liked to "clock out at 6 PM," this job might not be right for me. He also mentioned that he enjoyed "playing" with ChatGPT at 1 or 2 AM, or even during weekends because he loved what he did. He suggested that I should reflect on how I was spending my time and hinted that I should be working late nights if necessary. Although he never directly asked me to work outside of regular hours, it was clear that he expected it. He also remarked that the company "wasn’t a university" and that the time for learning was over—a statement that contradicts the best practices in product development, where continuous learning is essential. After hearing these comments from my manager, being on the verge of burnout, and after my therapist described my situation as one of clear abuse, I decided to leave the company. It’s shocking how a company with a toxic culture can destroy the positive environment of an acquired company, turning it into an unhealthy and unsustainable workplace.