Meetup is going through an incredible brain drain due to layoffs and changes implemented as part of the acquisition of the company by WeWork. Senior engineering staff was fired, benefits were cut, speeches were given about how its not going to be a 'cushy' place to work anymore. The message is clear - Meetup valued its employees but the new owner, WeWork, does not and considers this a competitive advantage.
Acquisitions are often rough and understandably so. Its a difficult transition to make but lying, half truths, and unrealistic storytelling by management isn't going to help.
The primary reason for working at Meetup is the hope that WeWork goes public and you get rich off of stock options. How does that happen when WeWork is already so incredibly overvalued and you're so late to the table?
---
Oh, and diversity - yes, much of the engineering management is non-hetero women. This, on the surface, is a good thing. But I've watched their management style become increasing blunt and aggressive, "You have to do it because I said so." I've watched them damage the careers of very good female engineers for reasons that are a complete mystery to the wider engineering team. (Oh, female product managers are let go on an alarming basis but thats a different reporting structure.) The sad lesson is that just because women (or another tech minority) are in management does not mean they have the tools or interest to mentor others. In fact, it can be much worse than that.