I don't think it's fair to assign blame to "positivity" and "optimism" as others in the comments have.
It takes an incredible amount of positivity to start or join a small startup. You have to believe that you/your coworkers will accomplish something that very few people have done successfully, and that requires a lot of confidence when things look gloomy.
As a total outsider here, it sounds like most ex-Fast employees are very talented and positive people. Perhaps the problem was not overall "company positivity" so much as it was executive leadership being naive and unwilling to A) identify when serious pivots/changes needed to be made and B) actually make those pivots.
It takes an incredible amount of positivity to start or join a small startup. You have to believe that you/your coworkers will accomplish something that very few people have done successfully, and that requires a lot of confidence when things look gloomy.
As a total outsider here, it sounds like most ex-Fast employees are very talented and positive people. Perhaps the problem was not overall "company positivity" so much as it was executive leadership being naive and unwilling to A) identify when serious pivots/changes needed to be made and B) actually make those pivots.
Positivity is good, but not when it translates to unchecked naiveté. If you believe too strongly in your ability to succeed, you might start rejecting any signs of failure as they crop up. When something goes wrong or a mistake is made, you might find a scapegoat or otherwise discount the severity of the problem.
The other "reason for failure" might simply be that... well... startups are hard. Sometimes it just doesn't work. There might not be anyone to blame.