Roku

Snacks in the office.

Great people, limited autonomy in certain fields.

First on the list is easy: Lack of diversity. The "internal joke" at Roku was that it stood for "Old White Man" in Japanese.

The company had so much potential in 2019.

Unfortunately, going from a 900-person headcount to a 4,000-person headcount during the pandemic stressed many employees to near breaking point.

Another issue: Some senior-level directors and managers have fewer enterprise-level skillsets than the new hires they bring aboard. Many "old-timers" (4+ years) are leaving, including an SVP who many people thought would be the next CEO and would bring Roku into the future.

The mass departures of the "old guard" should tell you how Roku will fare moving forward. TLDR: Google and Amazon will ultimately bury Roku bit by bit, leaving stakeholders and employees holding worthless stock.

Slow down hiring. Find the right people for management.

Diversity. Diversity. Diversity.