Probably nobody is going to read this, but for the one person that does - I've been a LTT fan since the beginning, when it was NCIX Tech Tips, (you can check my post history saying congrats on 1M subs).
I don't usually visit the forum, in fact, this is my first login in a very long time. I actually un-subscribed to LTT sometime around 2017/2018 just when they started making server videos because I was worried that I would learn sketchy IT practices/how not to do things starting my career as a software engineer. But now as a Senior SWE, I re-sub'd in 2022 and was amazed by the progress they've made since then.
But anyways, this needs to be said - because this is over a big nothing burger. I am not a shill, I subscribed to floatplane for 1 month to see the employee interviews, and I have not bought anything from LTTStore.com. I am simply stating my opinion for those who care. I also won't be reading responses to this. It seems like people who have problems believing that all this is over poor corporate practices has never worked in a high growth VC startup or some kind of small corporation before, where all the profits are reinvested into the business - yes this phase can last >10 years if the owners want it to. Everytime they put everything on the line like for that semi-recent office building purchase, the grind cycle RESTARTS. Just because they've been around for 10 years and have 100 employees doesn't mean the company can't die at any moment. Multiple people on the interviews have also said they don't have retros, and it's always "go, go, go". No retros = no time for process improvment. People who think the contrary have never worked in this high stress, "if I don't do this, the whole company might go under if I don't deliver" environment and its really apparent. Also, when you are interviewing for a job at an early stage company, it comes implicitly with the expectation that you will work in this type of environment unless you were born yesterday.
I don't think Linus is a bad person, and from my gut-feeling, I don't think he intended to harm anyone. Toxic work culture cannot be hidden for 14 years straight. Another thing is, founders don't have line of sight at the top of the house, only what middle management reports back to them. That is why companies hire people, to handle things they don't need to worry about.
RE: Incorrect data on screen - Yes, they are rushing because they want to pump out a huge volume of videos. The employee interviews said they grew from 20-30 people to 100 people in 2 years?! That is an insane growth rate, growing pains are basically expected. Labs literally just came online and the first "test" piece of content was the PSU video. It takes time to hammer down internal processes, especially with something new. I would have expected them to come up with QA processes eventually, because re-work at any company is very expensive.
RE: Billet Labs - This was probably an email/communication fuck up, I highly doubt Linus would sell their prototype if he personally knew they wanted it back. Many people in the interviews cite communication issues within the company.
RE: Madison - Seems like LTT had a poor middle manager that was made worse by Linus not having all the facts at hand. But we only hear one side, which is always biased. 3rd party investigation is the right move here. I sincerely doubt the work environment is that toxic, and with 100+ people there is no hiding - especially when you have no bullshit-type engineers working for you. Perhaps the person that made those sexist comments and bullying was let go, she only referred to them as "they/them', not sure if it's a single person or multiple.
Just my 2 cents,