Startup boss demotes new employee in front of their coworkers with no warning: 'I haven't even been here for 2 months, but this is all getting to be a bit too much'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Aug 20, 2026 8:30 AM EDT

What would you do if you were demoted with no warning? 

Startups can be interesting places to work because they tend to be the wild west. There is a different expectation about hours, benefits, and HR, because you all might be working to get something off the ground and build it together, rather than keep an institution going. There are positives to this, for sure. You might have a great sense of ownership of your work, and it might pay huge dividends in the long run. Think of the employees who got in on the ground floor of companies like Google. They probably had to sacrifice a lot in the beginning, but now they're made for life. But startup culture can also be difficult to navigate if you're looking for stability. And if egos and personalities start to clash, things can get heated very quickly. That's what happened to the employee in this story, who started a new job and didn't quite realize what they were in for. They shared their story to the r/work subreddit, airing their grievances and asking for advice.

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A group of startup employees all crowd around a desk together
via Austin Distel

Image for illustrative purposes.


A group of startup employees all crowd around a desk together

Nobody wants to feel like they've been baited-and-switched, especially at a new job. Leaving a job is such a risk, and you hope that it pays off once you get to the new place. This isn't always the case, though, and sometimes when you get somewhere it's wildly different from what you expected. That's what happened to this worker. Scroll on to see how that all unfolded. 

I just got demoted in front of the entire company and nobody told me.

joined this brand new startup (like 10 on-site people). They were the ones who approached me and chased after me, as I already had another job where I was the senior and was very well respected.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408
This new place offered me a major pay increase and a Lead title. I have it in writing from the co-founder that I'm getting the lead position, not senior. Eventually, I chose to give it a go and was excited about the prospect of building something from scratch.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

When the onboarding is messy, it's not a great sign for the rest of the experience.

The whole onboarding was super messy, there's no HR (obviously), and I was the one who had to keep reminding everybody of basic employee rights.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408
Got off to a weird start with the ceo who I report to directly. Istg I get along with everyone, but for some reason it seems like he never felt 100% content with me. It became evident when this week he told me that I was the only one out of the entire team that he didn't manage the process of didn't bring me into the company (also bs bc I sat down with him twice before signing).
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

If working from home is important to you, you want to stick by that.

I made it clear wfh was important to me and the cofounder said ofc and that he doesn't mind, now they told me that's not allowed, and the cofounder lied saying he made it clear during the process. Every time I try to start a new project I'm told it's "not a priority". the ceo went over my calendar saying he wanted to set up a time for us but saw I put a task for myself and told me not to do the thing without speaking to him first.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408
A group of startup employees sit around a conference table with laptops
via Annie Spratt

Scene shown is a visual representation.


A group of startup employees sit around a conference table with laptops

Today, at the all hands, they showed an org chart and next to my name was 'senior x', where in the original org chart i was shown week 1 of the job it said lead. I haven't even been here for 2 months, but this is all getting to be a bit too much. Leaving my old place after years of working there was a rather dramatic event and a very big decision that struck waves in the company and for me personally.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I have no idea what to do, I don't want to confront anyone and I'm tired of playing games that seem to be mostly centered over ego. I just wanted to do my job that i was brought in for. I was promised that they would beed guidance from me on what to do, that I could build, and that I'll be in charge. It just somehow keeps getting worse. Help lol
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

Commenters had questions and advice for this employee.

Gartomesh I'm actually surprised they are ok with wfm when they're a startup.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408
glimmeringsea Lying about WFH by itself is enough to leave imo, but everything sounds pretty You could try to ride it out until six months or so (after the holidays when you can hopefully take some time off), or you could start applying elsewhere today.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

This was a fair question, considering they had a lot of qualms with their higher-ups.

SMCoaching A lot of what you wrote sounds like it would be frustrating for most people. I'm curious about one thing you wrote: I don't want to confront anyone Why not?
via Outrageous_Hour_2408
Outrageous_Hour_2408 OP Because I already did every single time. Regarding wfh, told the ceo very clearly i would not have made the switch had I known beforehand, and nothing came out of it. Argued every time to explain the logic behind each project, was told "i trust you" but then a week later "not a priority". I was chased after and asked by them to come in and do a job, it may sound funny but it feels like I shouldn't have to confront everyone time and again over baseline stuff they themselve
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

This commenter gave advice on how to move forward.

InevitableCodeRedo Try reaching out to your old company to see if there's a possibility of you being able to return there. And at any rate, fire up the job search. They fooled you and it's only going to get worse from here. I've been in this exact situation.
via Outrageous_Hour_2408

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