Pros
A darling of the Kansas City Startup Scene, Front Flip has (had?) it all: A mythical founder who claims to channel Steve Jobs, a stream of funding from a "rich uncle" investor, and beautiful offices in a trendy part of town. Lots of high-fiving (and ringing cowbells) to celebrate successes, personalized coffee cups, pretty people in nice clothes, and a staff who dedicated their full effort to making the company successful. Good times.
Cons
Lots of drama, just like a movie: Layoffs and firings on a fairly regular basis. Even in the best of times, there was a lot of politics and infighting at the top. The founders did not get along with the board. The main investor owned the high-priced space Front Flip worked out of, and one of his ways of "guiding" the company was to make them pay rent on the space and make everyone play dress-up every day so the place would look nice. Eventually, the board voted to oust the founders, and a new CEO was hired. He stayed in that role long enough to come up with a plan to triple the size of the company, then quit suddenly after a meeting with the board. The sales staff and customer-service personnel were fired as a group, the credits rolled, and the movie was essentially over. Overall, a spectacular failure of a company. Good people worked hard, and for their efforts were treated with the level of respect normally afforded to a pile of sawdust.
