Employees are not being taken seriously, or even treated with respect. Their competence is not used. As a software engineer, you are treated like a code monkey.
Having an opinion is frowned upon, to say the least. Management tries to manipulate the team's opinion of people they dislike. Feedback is rare and when you get it, it's usually too late and too loud.
There is some noticeable movement towards involving employees a bit more, but it's still quite lacking. The structures are authoritarian and decisions are flowing from top to bottom. Sometimes very erratically. People's opinions are not valued and usually, discussions (e.g. about requirements, technical details or time estimates) tend to be ended by an argument of authority.
The only thing reminding you that you are working at a startup is the salary. Also, there are no shares, even though they were announced (of course not as a definitive promise) at the time I had an interview.
