Terrible is an understatement

 The values and culture of respect and trust that we had developed as a team never got real support from person it needed most - the CEO, Enguerrand Vidor. As things got tough, as they do in startups, he showed his true colours when he decided to do away with all the "niceties" and in fact became the sociopathic antithesis of our culture and values. But not just that – his business and decision making skills were non-existent too, relying mainly on his charisma to charm his way through the business landscape.

Here's a few key points to paint the picture:

• Tunnel vision - The company started with a great vision and a plan, as do all startups. But we quickly learnt through successful and failed experiments that the plan had to change. Enguerrand blindly hung on to the original plan despite all the lessons and data telling us to do otherwise. Even if he agreed to new ideas presented by others, he would work against them in secret or shut them down the first chance he gets.
• Unstrategic & unable to prioritise – Focus was almost non-existent whenever Enguerrand was around. In fact, we eagerly awaited the CEO’s idea of the week every Monday morning to push aside whatever we were doing to work on the latest "shiny new thing" that he came up with over the weekend. Enguerrand certainly seemed more interested in constantly adding features to the product than getting customers.
• Compulsive lying - He not only consistently inflated the success of the company and grossly exaggerated sales and customer figures to people outside of the company, he also constantly mispresented his own opinions as the opinions of reputable people he had apparently met in order to sway internal decisions. He attempted to turn team members against each other, separately telling each one that the other had backstabbed them, only for them to find out that none of it was true. His lies eventually became so frequent (unnecessarily so) and he was so convincing in telling them, that our colleagues had to endure severe stress and trauma as the result of the gaslighting.
• Either stupid or delusional - He's the kind of guy who would tell you to take a lower salary, and go from a permanent role to a contract role (so you have to pay your own superannuation and taxes), but tell to your face that it’s actually a better deal for you. In fact, he has.
• Disregard of ethics - I can't say much without violating Glassdoor policies here. However, I can say that whenever someone from the team called out a possible breach of ethics, he would simply dismiss it with something along the lines of "I am very ethical". #ifyouhavetosayit...
• Breeds distrust - If I had to pick one thing and say that it sealed my decision to leave the company, it would be that Enguerrand, against practically everyone’s advice, chose to hire a family member who clearly had a "I am the CEO's XXXX, so you have to do what I want" attitude. Add the fact that the family member was caught spying and reporting on the team’s whereabouts and their online conversations to Enguerrand, this move was the last straw for most people in the team.
• Creating a successful business is hard enough and the company may have still failed with a better CEO. But with Enguerrand at the helm, even the basic workplace environment required for any success never got the support it needed. Leezair lost 7 of 9 of its original team members including 2 co-founders in a span of a month. If you were to ask him about it today, he will convincingly tell you that these people were somehow simply not capable enough and not cut out for the challenges of a startup. His dogged refusal to accept even the slightest responsibility for what has happened or learn from the past, and instead shift the blame to others is simply telling of his character.

At the end of the day, don't be fooled by Enguerrand’s tales of vast experience, the long list of senior executives he claims to know, or how successful the company seemingly is. Dig deep into the details when dealing with this company and its “CEO” and do your due diligence.