Benchling's Downfall: A Cautionary Tale of Incompetent Leadership and Toxic Culture - Scientific Solution Consultant Benchling Employee Review

The decline of this company really began in H2 of 2021. The push for IPO drastically changed the mentality of the leadership. Long-standing managers who helped to build the company from the ground up were removed to give way to those so-called “Silicon Valley professionals”. The truth is, many field manager-level hires came in with very little to no understanding of the product, market, target users, or science. Instead of shaping Benchling into another SaaS legend, these corporate catfish inflicted tremendous damage to the culture, commodified people underneath, and directly led to the massive departure of veterans - a fact that HR dismissed as regular attrition. Knowing their own incompetence, those managers live their days in constant anxiety, and pass that down through exhausting sync-ups, recaps, updates, and reviews that served as little more than calendar fillers. Hope for constructive feedback or guidance from those activities is just a far cry. This is all part of a game designed to demonstrate their work ethic and maintain a sense of control. The blind trust from the top further emboldened some to exploit their power and create false management needs. More hierarchy was inserted and even less qualified managers were smuggled in that blocked the advancement of truly capable individuals. To give the appearance of recognizing and promoting valuable employees, new positions were also invented, but in reality, they were just smokescreen for those in power to feather their own nest. They were nothing but deliberate attempt to maintain the status quo and keep productive individuals pinned to the bottom of the corporate ladder. The recent reduction in force gave some of them yet another opportunity to flex their muscle, play favorites and conceal their toxic behavior. So, blood was shed, but pus stayed put.