I highly recommend looking for any dissonance between the ground-floor workers and management/leadership.
The best scenario you can find (a truly rare gem of an employer), whether startup or established company, is where everyone is on the same page. Vision should be clear, strengths should be accurately gauged, and problems should be acknowledged and well-understood. You should be able to share what you've learned from the workers with management (and vice versa) without any looks of shock, fear, or panic. Overall visible stress should be almost non-existant.
The worst scenario is where the company's leadership lives in its own reality and blames any issues on workers or outsiders. Run from these employers; no amount of money is worth working for such people. The easiest way to test for this case is to just talk openly about what you've learned about the company and how the future looks given their strengths and weaknesses. Watch out, in particular, for the hushed phrase "I shouldn't tell you this, but..."
Realistically, though, you'll find a lot of employers somewhere in between. Just know that the distance between the reality of leadership and worker is going to be proportional to the pain you'll feel working at that employer and that such distance tends to increase over time.
The best scenario you can find (a truly rare gem of an employer), whether startup or established company, is where everyone is on the same page. Vision should be clear, strengths should be accurately gauged, and problems should be acknowledged and well-understood. You should be able to share what you've learned from the workers with management (and vice versa) without any looks of shock, fear, or panic. Overall visible stress should be almost non-existant.
The worst scenario is where the company's leadership lives in its own reality and blames any issues on workers or outsiders. Run from these employers; no amount of money is worth working for such people. The easiest way to test for this case is to just talk openly about what you've learned about the company and how the future looks given their strengths and weaknesses. Watch out, in particular, for the hushed phrase "I shouldn't tell you this, but..."
Realistically, though, you'll find a lot of employers somewhere in between. Just know that the distance between the reality of leadership and worker is going to be proportional to the pain you'll feel working at that employer and that such distance tends to increase over time.