"The world is trash" is not an excuse to make it worse, and this kind of statement only digs you a bigger hole.
This is not the end of your startup, it could just be a bumpy start if you are able to find a different angle for this technology and turn the boat around. It could be a really nice story tbh, you have the whole world looking at you which is the most difficult thing! No publicity is bad publicity.
In what world can this tech be spun in a good way? It’s over for them, at least for their startup at the minimum. The aspect of squeezing metrics out of workers is intrinsic to what they’ve built.
They seem to be rich kids, so I half can’t blame them for having a disgustingly warped moral compass, but this “startup” is trash and cannot be saved.
Hopefully this motivates them to actually do something positive for the world.
"The world is trash" is not an excuse to make it worse, and this kind of statement only digs you a bigger hole.
This is not the end of your startup, it could just be a bumpy start if you are able to find a different angle for this technology and turn the boat around. It could be a really nice story tbh, you have the whole world looking at you which is the most difficult thing! No publicity is bad publicity.
But leave that attitude behind ...