- Suffocating bureaucracy. The painful transition from startup to corporation was held together by sheer force of will from myself and my team—not the organization.
- Owners are involved in many businesses and engage with this one sporadically and without structure, making alignment impossible.
- Decisions are often based on secondary metrics with no strategic depth or proper prioritization. Ownership frequently lacks the context or willingness to make clear, fact-based, long-term decisions.
- Internal politics dominate everything. Success is less about results and more about sycophancy—those who flatter and conform rise faster than those who deliver impact.
- Since 2024, the company has fallen into a trap of "analytics for the sake of analytics"—an endless stream of data collection with zero business insight or decision-making tied to it.
- The anti-fraud team has been ineffective for years, with major cash-out incidents recurring quarterly. No one seems able—or willing—to define clear KPIs or improvement targets.
- The COO/CIO builds monstrous processes that hurt business execution under the guise of “formalization.” Plenty of paperwork; very little value.
- There’s a complete vacuum when it comes to accountability for revenue growth, margin improvement, or operational efficiency. There’s simply no one left truly owning these outcomes.
- Agreements with ownership are made verbally, rarely documented, and often unilaterally changed or revoked. If you’ve negotiated bonuses or commissions—don’t count on actually receiving them.
- A lack of true leadership and vision from the top means the company is drifting. There is no captain at the helm—just departments going through motions, disconnected from actual results.