I've worked with plenty of leadership teams before and this team was by far the worst experience. It's very hard to voice your opinion and have it heard and recognized unless you're on the "inside" or in the "old boys club."
This is not a culture that is motivating or empowering. There have been very quick hiring and firing in the past so there is an underlying tone of uneasiness in the culture. From the outside, the appearance of culture looked friendly and welcoming, but after being in it, I found it to be very different than the external appearance. It's quite draining!
Finally, the communication is not transparent (like any startup) but this is more apparent. It's a small company and communication should not be something hard; however, it is! More times than not, the CEO or anyone else on the leadership team will make a decision without consulting anyone and totally derail the team in a different direction without any notice. This creates a lack of trust and incredible frustration on almost every project. (Heads up - the CEO makes rash decisions).