CEO is a petty minded bully with the emotional range of a small child. He is personally responsible for driving away many good and talented people. He is trying to create another narrative, but those who have the displeasure of knowing him, know the truth. Once people see what he's really like, everyone wants to get out as fast as possible.
An example of just how awful he is: It's not commonly known, but the CEO is not the sole founder of Talkdesk. He continues to rewrite history, claiming in interviews that he is the sole founder of Talkdesk. Why does he do that? He thinks he is amazing and that other people are worthless. Everyone owes him something. He believes we are all replaceable. He regularly boasts that he has full control over both the company and the board. The implication here is that only he cannot be replaced. Sadly, that is true.
While he doesn't think much of the US employees, he reserves extra disdain for the ones in Portugal. He openly talks trash about them, and apparently takes pleasure in denigrating his fellow countrymen. The comments are along the lines of "they're lazy and lack ambition, but at least they're cheap". It is impossible to respect someone that offers none to others.
Other categories of people he dislikes include vendors, partners, and customers. Basically everyone.
The only kind of customers he likes are ones he does not yet have. Think about that. This dictates that marketing talk about things that aren't actually available because the only thing that matters is winning the deal. That also means the product team is ordered to build one piece of demoware after another. Buyer beware.
There is no focus whatsoever in any part of the company thanks to the CEO's mania, but the lack of focus shows up in product more than anywhere else. Before one new thing even ships we're on to the next badly thought out"game changer".
Finally, the fake five star reviews here. They've become an inside joke at the company and I hope that outsiders are able to see through them.
