Toxic CEO - Anonymous employee Socialive Employee Review

1.0
26 Jul 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get to "wear many hats". Many of the clients are doing interesting things. Many of your coworkers will be great people for the short time they are there.

Cons

Socialive has an extremely abusive work environment that comes directly from the CEO. He takes turns yelling for hours at different employees for trivial or personal things where everyone can hear and has even thrown things in the office during his tantrums. He has no respect for his workers and says things like "everyone here is replaceable except for me" and that "it is better to lead through fear". As he stomps in and out of the office, it becomes very difficult to concentrate and a general state of anxiety settles on everyone waiting for the moment that they become the next target of his volatile emotional state. If you were looking for the cool tech company benefits, this is not the place. There are no snacks of coffee, and most of the time the office lacks basic necessities like toilet paper or soap leaving you to decide if it is worth spending your own money to work in dignity. The company currently known as 'Socialive' has been a completely different company almost every year from holding raves to creating beats and ultimately wandering into live streaming. The CEO has no focus and puts no effort into learning how to run or manage a business. The company and position you sign up to work for may fall by the wayside in favor of another idea he wants to chase without a real business model. He refuses to raise VC funds and only takes money from friends to ensure the board has no real interest or oversight allowing him to do what he wants without needing to prove the business case or answer even basic questions about how to scale the revenue model. He will not invest money into the headcount or tools needed to truly grow at scale. Additionally, while the work could be interesting, your focus and time is often pulled into different directions and he would rather use salaried employees to do things like help him figure out how his laptop works or negotiate the internet contract. When you are working in your field of specialty, you will be extremely micro-managed, disrespected, and often contacted for small things at all hours to listen to various rants or off-the-cuff ideas. It will be very difficult to follow through with planned activities you know will help the company as you will be stopped at every turn or assigned a different boss or set of responsibilities to keep you on your toes. Because of this behavior, staff turnover is incredible. The office is filled with entirely new faces every few months. Some people run companies because they are utterly unemployable and have the privilege to have rich friends they can take money from without really having to be accountable. That is the only way David Moricca has fallen backwards into where he is.

Explore other reviews about Socialive

5.0
26 Nov 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Leadership and peers showcase great integrity in how they operate – with honesty and transparency. Product is incredibly strong and differentiated. Opportunity to be category leader. While it is a culture of hard work and grit, there is a great deal of collaboration and support I get from leaders that I have never experienced in any other role. There is a drive to WIN that ripples throughout the culture, and a focus on customer satisfaction and product innovation. C-suite are innovators who have been in the space for years and helping to create the new category.

Cons

The company is fully remote, so it is important to be able to work effectively and collaborate well in a virtual environment. Fast pace, and frequently integrating learnings in a quickly-evolving space that keep you on your toes. It is exciting, but also requires nimbleness and grit.

1.0
14 Nov 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

At the time, rank and file employees were hardworking and good people, that wanted to give it all for the company, despite what was really transpiring in the business.

Cons

Socialive is your classic "Zombie" company. The company was really founded more than 15 years ago and was the result of 2 other failed startups. Missed the 2021 boat of high valuations and has been decelerating ever since. The company has little no ethical standards, very questionable practices because both the two Leaders that run the company have zero clue on what they are doing. The company is ran like a "mom and pop" and I would barely call it a tech startup; It's really a "start down" or a "run down." Most people that come to Socialive learn within the first 3 months start looking for new jobs or only hang on until they are able to find a new place.

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