I just read this DailyWTF article and as a non-American, I'm quite intrigued. Is this some sort of dark humor, parody or do things really work like this in United States, especially in startup companies?

It seems to be a fictional tale of an IT Developer and her project manager who doesn't seem concerned at all about getting things done while the CEO is a "face time" dude who is more interested in presentation and polish than actual client servicing. And to top it, the programmer who actually codes is not only never seen in the office (non-existent?) but is actually "multiple people" at least on paper.

How is this firm even on board or generating revenue, I just fail to understand!