'Cried on Google Meet': Fresher techie, working 15-hour shifts, slams toxic boss, startup culture

The employee received little guidance despite working 12-15 hours a day. (Representational)

The fast-paced world of Indian startups often comes with immense pressure and a lack of structure, as highlighted by a recent post in the r/DevelopersIndia subreddit. A frontend developer, overwhelmed by an unstructured work environment and a toxic boss, shared their emotional breakdown during a Google Meet, resonating with many in the tech community.

The anonymous poster, a fresher working remotely for a startup with just two employees and three founders, described a toxic workplace culture where they felt unsupported and humiliated by their tech lead. Despite working gruelling hours—often 12 to 15 a day—the employee received little guidance or training, eventually leading to a confrontation during a virtual meeting.

“My colleague and I have dropped the expectation of appreciation from him, right now we just expect from him not get humiliation from him, and not always but mostly spend 12 hours working and sometimes stretch to 14-15,” they wrote.

In the post, the employee recounted the incident: “I mentioned my concern about unclear instructions… He was beating around the bushes to make himself right and make me feel bad. Eventually, he couldn’t solve the problem either. He said he would look into it but told me so many nasty things. I couldn’t hold my tears and started crying.”

The emotional toll was so much that the developer took a leave of absence shortly after the incident, unsure how to face their boss moving forward.

i cried on google meet in front of tech lead, do not know how to face it now
byu/MoveTraditional2588 indevelopersIndia

One commenter suggested maintaining a paper trail: “Keep everything on mail. After you’re assigned a task, send a detailed email summarising the instructions and ask for confirmation. This helps avoid miscommunication and holds the tech lead accountable.”

Others advised the developer to leave the job, calling out the exploitative culture prevalent in some startups: “Frontend and UI/UX designers are the most exploited in Indian startups. Mostly Indian ones. You’ll burn out to the level that you’d want to quit immediately and run away.”

Another user echoed the sentiment: “Only two employees and three founders? Leave this LALA company ASAP! Indian startups like these are full of egoistic founders. It’s better to join TCS or Infosys or even do freelancing.”