Courtesy of Celia Arias
- Celia Arias says she had two tech jobs that felt fake.
- Arias was earning $130,000 at her second "fake" tech job.
- She believes some startups just hire people so the company can look good before being sold.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Celia Arias, a 42-year-old business coach and former tech industry employee from New York City. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I'm a founder and business operations expert who worked in the tech industry for several years. During that time, I had two tech jobs that felt like fake jobs.
First, I started at a venture capital funded startup. I believed so much in their product that I decided to apply for a business development role at the company. I didn't get the job, but I looked good on paper as a candidate, so they created a new position for me.
It wasn't the job I was looking for
I had an MBA and was articulate. They asked me to do presentations and give talks at events. It wasn't the job I was looking for as a former founder, but I found a way to work with a company that had a product I believed in.
After about a year, the business went through internal restructuring and they appointed me to a new role. This was the type of position that I was initially looking for and I learned that I was very good at business operations.
My ideas were never implemented and things started to crumble
I created a new process for how the design department should work with manufacturing, but my ideas were never implemented. During the restructuring, they also hired a lot of new people without an understanding of how the company worked. They over-hired people who looked good on paper.
It seemed like they cared more about how things looked, so things started to crumble. One day, I went to work and our whole team was fired. I'd been at the company for about a year and a half, before I was let go. There were signs that things weren't going well, but we weren't told what to expect.
After that job, I worked for another venture capital funded tech startup
I wanted the next tech company to hire me for a specific executive role, but they didn't think they needed someone in that position. Instead, they hired me for a different role with an annual salary of about $130,000.
Once I got into the company, however, I started doing operations related work. It was a young startup and needed a lot of structure. The CEO eventually ended up giving me the role I applied for.
I noticed the company spent all their resources on creating and marketing products and merchandise that were unrelated to the main product. I tried to get them to focus on improving the main product, but the more work I did, the more frustrated I became.
It felt like a fake job
For almost three years, I tried to work with the development team to improve the product, but it felt like they weren't listening to any of my input.
The company wanted me to focus on its image and do presentations for potential buyers. When I presented my pitch decks, they told me not to talk about any improvements that could be made to the product. They just wanted me to make the company's brand look good for buyers.
After a while, the company was sold and I realized a trend. Some venture-capital tech startups build a company with the sole purpose of creating a brand good enough to sell to a buyer. It's the cause of the venture capital tech bubble.
I also believe some startups create fake jobs that look good on paper for people while creating subpar products or services. Then they fire everyone and sell the company to the best buyer. I talked to other colleagues and people with similar jobs in the industry and they had similar experiences.
Now, I have my own coaching business
I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wanted to do my job, but was unable to because I felt like the board and the founder put me in an awkward position. I left that job, before I could be fired, and haven't looked back.
I now have my own coaching business called The Grown-Ass Business. I help businesses focus and build their products or services without having to rely on venture capital funds. I also train business coaches on how to coach their clients.
Although I had tech jobs that felt fake, I did walk away with new skills that I can now use to help other businesses. I also learned how to do things differently for my own business.