“Join the startup, they said. You’ll learn fast, grow faster, and collapse the fastest.”
In the mythical lands of Bengaluru—India’s tech Valhalla—dreams are coded, deadlines are sacred, and burnout is a rite of passage. If you haven’t cried in a 3:00 AM Google Meet while being yelled at by a non-tech CEO named “Karma-chameleon Kumar”, are you even part of the startup ecosystem?
Today, we bring you the heartwarming (read: horrifying) story of a junior data scientist who entered a startup with stars in his eyes and left with IV drips in his arms. His story, shared via Reddit (the startup employee’s unofficial HR department), became an instant hit with the online community and an even bigger red flag for LinkedIn recruiters pretending to be “family-like” organizations.
Episode 1: Enter the Dungeon — a.k.a Your Friendly Neighborhood Startup
Once upon a time in Indiranagar (obviously), our techie protagonist joined a “promising” startup as a junior data scientist. The job posting promised “exciting challenges”, “flat hierarchy”, and “fast-paced environment”. What it really meant was:
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Challenges = daily mental breakdowns
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Flat hierarchy = one toxic boss, zero filters
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Fast-paced = 12-hour sprints to meet deadlines invented by astrology
He had no idea his life was about to become an unpaid internship in emotional torture.
Episode 2: Non-Tech CEO, Full-Time Nightmare
The villain of our Pixar tale is the company’s CEO—lovingly dubbed “Satan” by the traumatized techie.
This CEO had:
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Zero technical background
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100% confidence in his data science abilities (courtesy of one Udemy course)
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A magical ability to change project requirements mid-sprint, mid-email, and mid-sentence
Imagine being micromanaged by someone who thinks “Python” is a snake problem in the server room.
He’d scream:
“Why is this model not predicting our Q3 revenue spike? Use more AI!”
That’s right. This man believed yelling “use more AI” could fix unrealistic forecasts. In short, he treated machine learning like masala in biryani—just sprinkle more if the flavor is off.
Episode 3: Life in the Meat Grinder
The techie worked 12-14 hours every day, weekends included. Took exactly two sick leaves in 7 months. That’s less than the number of filters used on company Instagram posts claiming “Work-Life Balance Wednesdays”.
Every day, the boss delivered:
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Constant criticism (“You’re too slow.”)
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Gaslighting (“Maybe you’re just not passionate enough?”)
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Philosophical abuse (“If you’re stressed, are you even innovating?”)
All delivered with the smugness of a man who once called ChatGPT “my co-founder.”
Episode 4: The Google Meet Breakdown
And then came the final boss fight—on a Google Meet.
During what was supposed to be a “quick check-in,” Satan-CEO entered full Dragon Ball Z mode. For 45 minutes straight, he screamed at the techie over “missed” expectations, which were never documented, never discussed, and possibly never real.
“WHY ISN’T THE DASHBOARD PREDICTING MY MOOD SWINGS?!”
Unable to cope, the techie collapsed—literally. He began gasping for air, clutching his chest like an overworked Bollywood villain. His mother, hearing the chaos from the next room, rushed him to the hospital. Because of course, Indian startups don’t offer ambulances—but thankfully Indian moms do.
Episode 5: HR – Hell’s Receptionists
When he resigned, you’d think the ordeal ended.
WRONG.
The HR team, which had previously ghosted him for every leave request, suddenly woke up like AI during a Midjourney prompt. They grilled him with questions like:
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“Are you sure this wasn’t performance anxiety?”
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“Did you collapse due to personal reasons?”
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“Can you finish the notice period from the ICU?”
Apparently, mental breakdowns aren’t valid unless verified with screenshots, a doctor’s note, and an apology letter to the CEO.
The Post That Broke Reddit
The techie then did what every Indian employee with no hope does: he took to Reddit.
His post blew up. Support poured in. Stories emerged of similar bosses, similar startups, and similar break-the-intern rituals. A few users shared:
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“Bro, I once had a boss who made me work during my grandfather’s funeral—because ‘data doesn’t mourn’.”
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“Our CEO once held a townhall at midnight to ‘align with Silicon Valley time’. We’re in BTM Layout, bro.”
The Reddit community did what HR never could: provide emotional validation and emojis.
The Bigger Picture: When Hustle Culture Becomes Horror Culture
What happened to this techie isn’t rare. In India, startup culture has often glamorized:
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Exploitation as “ownership”
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Burnout as “grind”
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Trauma as “growth”
We romanticize hustle until someone ends up in a hospital—and then post about it on LinkedIn with #Resilience.
Why? Because somewhere between valuing innovation and violating labor laws, we forgot humans are not scalable APIs.
Enter Pixar Mode: The Satirical Visual That Says It All
This real story inspired an AI-generated Pixar-style image that perfectly captures the madness:
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A techie with IV drips still attending Google Meet.
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Angry CEO on laptop with smoke fuming out of ears.
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Posters reading “Toxic is Productive” and “Cry Later, Code Now”
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Calendar full of “working days”, including weekends.
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Coffee cups multiplying like bugs in legacy code.
It’s satire, but it’s also… accurate.
Top 5 Red Flags You’re in a Bengaluru Tech Hellscape
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Your boss thinks ChatGPT is a full-time employee.
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Your heart rate monitor shows spikes during Zoom calls.
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Your sick leaves are rejected unless you attach a death certificate (your own).
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You hear ‘pivot’ more than ‘hello’.
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You dream of code—and your CEO yelling in 4K.
HR Policies That Belong in a Horror Movie
🧾 Sick leave? Denied.
🕯️ Therapy support? Try journaling.
📱 Complaints? “Let’s take this offline.”
🔁 Exit interviews? Conducted with the same tone as a police interrogation.
And yet every startup brochure opens with:
“We’re not a company. We’re family.”
Yes. A joint family from a 90s soap opera, where emotional blackmail is policy.
LinkedIn vs. Reality: A Poem
On LinkedIn, we celebrate growth,
Of burnout tales and quiet oath.
We hustle, grind, and chase the bag,
While inside, our souls just lag.
We post about the culture fun,
While HR tracks who’s late by one.
We smile on Zoom, while screaming “NOOO!”
All because of that one CEO.
The Aftermath: And Then He Rested (Finally)
Thankfully, the techie survived the ordeal and is now recovering, possibly watching reruns of The Office while relearning how to breathe.
Sources say he’s now freelancing—because working with clients sounds better than working for Satan.
And the startup?
It’s reportedly “hiring again,” this time using phrases like:
“Looking for passionate hustlers who don’t believe in time zones.”
So basically… nothing changed.
Final Thoughts: Is There a Way Out?
Yes. Speak up. Walk out. Burnout isn’t bravery. Trauma isn’t team spirit. That Pixar image may be funny, but the truth behind it is not.
So if your manager thinks “empathy” is a data metric, or you wake up fearing Slack messages, it’s time to pull a reverse pivot and leave.
Because in the end, the only KPI that really matters is your sanity.
Disclaimer
This article is a satirical piece inspired by real events. While the tone is humorous and exaggerated for effect, the underlying issues of toxic work culture, mental health neglect, and corporate abuse are very real and serious. Any resemblance to actual startups named after fruits, colors, or Sanskrit syllables is purely coincidental… or maybe not, whatever the case, read Peak View Stories.