There is a place where "a visionary founder with technical ability and clear view of the UI they want" no longer aligns with what we can provide. It can turn into a soul-destroying farce just like a "growing company admits as many middle-managers as there are designers/engineers" simply because The Visionary woke up one day and decided that "this UI we have is shit". Combine it with the Russian approach to "find the closest person responsible and punish them the hardest way possible" and you get the setup you have described.

Be very careful when putting your trust in visionaries.