Toxic leadership prioritises loyalty over expertise - Product Manager Primer AI Employee Review

If you're looking for a company where merit, expertise, and results determine success, this is not the place. In my experience, the biggest obstacle is the leadership culture. The company operates like an inner circle where loyalty to the CEO and his closest confidants appears to matter far more than experience, judgment, or performance. If you're part of that circle, you'll likely thrive. If you challenge decisions, ask difficult questions, or bring uncomfortable truths, don't expect to last. The most baffling part is watching critical roles filled in ways that, from my perspective, prioritize internal politics over demonstrated expertise. “I want people in my camp so this is who will be hired regardless of experience.” At a company desperately trying to establish product market fit, you would expect seasoned product and engineering leadership. Instead, I saw responsibilities assigned in ways that left many employees questioning whether capability was really the deciding factor. Meanwhile, talented employees continued to leave or were shown the door while key insiders who do literally zero remained firmly protected. The message became impossible to ignore: alignment with leadership seemed to outweigh execution. The consequences are everywhere. Product direction shifts constantly. Accountability is scarce. People become afraid to speak honestly because disagreement can feel career-limiting. Healthy debate gives way to groupthink, and difficult decisions are replaced by political ones. There is little confidence that leadership understands what it actually takes to build a sustainable software business. You cannot repeatedly dismantle your sales organization while expecting revenue to magically appear. There are genuinely talented people throughout the company, but they deserve leadership that values competence over loyalty, transparency over politics, and accountability over favoritism. Is this a company where the best ideas win, or where the right relationships win? My experience led me to believe it was the latter.