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Zenefits CEO responds to rumors of company's struggles
- z0r 11y agoThat image in the article makes it look like a terrible place to work: http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56495c0e112314ef038b5496-1228-921/zenefits%20offices.jpg http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56495c0e112314ef038...
- duiker101 11y agoWell, apparently for them it's way easier to aquire people than space, I mean, in the last quarter they hired 350 people, and since 1st November 75. That's like 3 people a day? Sounds crazy to me! With such a hire rate the quality must be going down at least a bit, and I can't even imagine what the on-boarding must look like, they just point at a desk(or a corner of one) and leave you at your own devices... I might be wrong... but I would be surprised if I am very far from the truth.
- rfjedwards 11y agoEspecially with that poster in the background where the only visible part is "WORK HARD"
- ljk 11y agosmall desks + stacks of mess... i'll take my cubicle over "open office!"
- rch 11y agoAnd I'll take my office, thanks.
- shostack 11y agoYikes...tend to agree. Can't imagine how I'd get anything done in such a cramped, open environment like that. Way too many distractions. Also couldn't help but notice the "Work Hard" poster in the background. Hopefully the subtext that is too small to make out is something that makes it sound less severe than it seems on the surface.
- ludr 11y agoUnderneath it says "& be nice to people".
- joezydeco 11y agoDoes the text size imply the priority?
- gravity13 11y agouhh, don't know what beach you guys are working from, but I appreciate a strong 'Work hard' vibe, myself. You want a chilled out work-to-life ratio, there's a number of places out there for you. Hell, some of them are startups. But part of the appeal of working at a startup is that you gotta get shit done. Work hard and be nice to people. Not a bad thing to see on your wall.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- joezydeco 11y agoBut part of the appeal of working at a startup is that you gotta get shit done Agreed, but it's a bit gauche to hang a sign on the wall stating the obvious. Unless you're running, say, a kindergarten class.
- stillsut 11y agoDudes, I don't think this Google Search here. Say you're one of the 75 people they hired this quarter. Do you know what fields are mandatory on the 179c form in Maryland? No. Does one of those people around the table know it? Hopefully yes. This is a multi-thousand person company to do something that has zero CS challenge to it. You need people constantly communicating changing business requirements and teaching each other evolving internal tools. If you have to get up and [guiltily] knock on someone's door to find this stuff out, the real work is going to suffer.
- redthrowaway 11y agoIt took us 6 months to find, renovate, and move into a new office. If they're adding as many people as they claim, that's more than enough time to go from "we're going to need to upsize soon" to "we needed to upsize months ago".
- Someone1234 11y agoSeems like a potential startup opportunity. We already have shared buildings but often these places are "bare bones." Maybe someone needs to have the building kitted out (phones, internet, desks, chairs, etc) allowing a startup to move in and be up-and-running within a day. I know around here they have a couple of those, they're expensive, but they do what they say on the tin.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoOr just onboard remote workers?
- Someone1234 11y agoBut businesses hate doing that since then you cannot micro-manage! PS - But seriously, it boils down to "how do you measure programmer's productivity" which is still an open question.
- Someone1234 11y agoNice equipment, but yeah that seems really unpleasant/unproductive. Random aside: I hate those lights so much. They often give me migraines as they reach the end of their life. Fortunately they have defused LEDs where I currently work which don't have the same issue (and are actually white not orange/yellow). I want to work somewhere (aside from home) where I can work in the dark. We occasionally get power cuts (and our generator doesn't power the main lights, only emergency lights and equipment) and it is the most pleasant day ever... http://i.imgur.com/UUw0ANK.jpg http://i.imgur.com/UUw0ANK.jpg
- jmspring 11y agoThat looks worse than some call centers I've seen. I'm not sure how they expect engineers to get any work done in those situations. That looks like "open office" taken to it's worst possible conclusion.
- choward 11y agoI know. Phones? Wtf?
- ryanSrich 11y agoThat's literally the scene of almost any SV startup. They don't "do" remote. Nor work life balance. It's all about asses in seats. Stay very clear of a work environment like that.
- cballard 11y agoThis, albeit without the mess, is my current office setup. I can't quit as I've only been here 8 months, so I'm waiting to complete a full year. Sort of hoping the company just runs out of money so that I can have a free out.
- joncalhoun 11y agoWould you pay money to exercise those options? If you don't expect them to succeed then staying a full year for the options is pretty pointless, since they typically expire in ~90 days after you quit.
- cballard 11y agoNo - staying primarily to avoid the "job hopper" label, and to finish documentation coverage so that I can avoid burning bridges as much as possible - I am solely responsible for the portion of the product that I work on, no one else at the company even knows the language it's written in (which isn't particularly obscure). There's no way they'll be able to hire a replacement within two weeks, so documentation will be all they have to go on.
- 11y ago
- jstalin 11y agoLooks like it's this: http://magculture.com//wp-content/uploads/2008/05/wallpaperburrill.jpg http://magculture.com//wp-content/uploads/2008/05/wallpaperb...
- theklub 11y agoYeh that's terrible
- ceejayoz 11y agoNot surprising, given the CEO's history. http://labs.openviewpartners.com/uber-zenefits-ceo-quora-debacle/ http://labs.openviewpartners.com/uber-zenefits-ceo-quora-deb...
- 20years 11y agoWow that looks like a nightmare. If I went into that space for an interview, I would runaway quick. I wonder if most of their employees are support. I can't imagine getting any kind of dev work done in that environment.
- Jemaclus 11y agoI interviewed there this summer, and as the recruiter was giving me a tour, I pretty much decided I wasn't interested. It was just desks as far as the eye could see. It just looked like the SV version of a sweat shop.
- FLGMwt 11y agoHah, this image made me realize that the iconic Burrill "Work Hard and Be Nice To People" looks a little more sweatshoppy when all you can see is the "WORK HARD" part and a crowded office.
- larrywright 11y agoThat is awful. Are there people who enjoy working in places like this?
- powera 11y ago1600 employees and only $80 million in revenue? That's only $50k per employee, which seems very low for a company hiring that aggressively (+25%/quarter).
- callmevlad 11y agoThe article makes it very clear that they are not yet profitable, and won't be for at least a year. Even if they're burning $100M a year, they've raised almost 5 times that amount - so they can sustain losses for a long time.
- sportanova 11y agoExactly! This is a catastrophe in the same way that any public company missing earnings by 1 cent is - Oh my god they only grew by 4x instead of 5x, it's bubblegeddon! Maybe it's a shit show behind the scenes, but from what I've read there's nothing to freak out about
- powera 11y agoOn the other hand, it most certainly isn't a good sign that they have this many employees.
- 1stranger 11y agoWhen I read they recently raised $500 million I thought that must be a typo. I thought it must have been $50 million. I was wrong, they actually raised $500 million.
- yeukhon 11y agoI wonder why they really need 1600 employees...to be quite honest, and I have a feeling half of them are contractors / consultants.
- Domenic_S 11y agoCommissioned salespeople for sure.
- ar7hur 11y agoHe'd rather respond to us disgruntled customers instead of doing PR. I'm very concerned about the future of this company. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10578397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10578397
- rabidonrails 11y agoI expect him to say that his company is "doing great," but he doesn't address why Fidelity cut its outlook on Zenefits (especially if everything is rainbows and butterflies).
- tomasien 11y agoIt went from a 4.5B company in their estimation to a 2.5B company in their estimation, still less than 3 years after it was founded. All projections were so far into the future already that they could swing massive %'s based on partner activity, even small revenue misses (ever changed your mo/mo growth rate in a spreadsheet by 1%?), or competitive activity. But going from a 4.5B company to a 2.5B company while still less than 3 years old isn't a sign of the apocalypse in the company.
- d_welsman 11y agoAssuming the figures that Conrad is saying are correct, it is still an amazing company that is growing quickly. Just investors are starting to take a more realistic view on valuations, and readjusting those valuations in their books. Just because super ambitious growth targets aren't met doesn't mean the company is about to go under...