4 ms·

Some people need to hear it spelled out that "Failure to hit a milestone for the company will mean you are forced to go to people who you consider friends and s

by patio11 11y ago

Some people need to hear it spelled out that "Failure to hit a milestone for the company will mean you are forced to go to people who you consider friends and say 'I'm sorry. You're an excellent engineer and have done everything we've asked of you. No company could have asked for better. We appreciate the long nights and sacrificed weekends. We hope you will think of these years fondly. You're fired. Your last check will be paid immediately; there will be no more checks. I hate doing this. But that doesn't change the math: you're still fired. Nothing either of us hope or say can change the fact that you're fired, over what is potentially a screwup out of anyone's control but, since I am a responsible businessman, I'm going to own the fact that no one is firing you but me.'" It's easy in the intoxicating aroma of the Valley, particularly when you're a first time founder who quite recently had a million dollars in the bank, to imagine that your second million dollars will come as easily as the first did. But the first was raised on dreams, and when you're coming up to your A round you have to replace dreams with metrics. If you don't have the metrics, you will not be offered an A round. This means hard choices which all suck. Founders need to be told this early and often. Running out of money kills companies; practically speaking only running out of money or running out of will to continue can kill a company. That will not be a pleasant experience under any circumstances. Do not run out of money.

ScottBurson 11y ago
Why do you suggest the term "fired" instead of "laid off"? The latter seems rather more appropriate.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  I can’t speak for Patrick, but there is actual value in calling lay offs what they really are (firings) so you avoid falling into euphemistic thinking. The whole reason we have the babble of management speech is people are avoid facing up to what they are really doing. When you fire some to save the company be honest about it and don’t pretend you are giving them the “chance to pursue other opportunities”.
  - ScottBurson 11y ago
    I agree that "chance to pursue other opportunities" is bullshit. But there's a real difference between "fired" and "laid off". Being fired and being laid off are two distinct ways of leaving a position. Being fired vs. laid off can impact your eligibility for unemployment as well as your hiring prospects for the future. [0] If the distinction is relevant to the unemployment compensation system, I don't think you can wave it away as a euphemism. [0] http://jobsearch.about.com/od/firedtermination/qt/fired-laid-off.htm http://jobsearch.about.com/od/firedtermination/qt/fired-laid...
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      I am not suggesting that you don't do the right thing by the employee, and making sure their employment is end in the right legal way is important, just that you should try to avoid euphemisms when faced with difficult situations. Here in Australia we call laying someone off as being made redundant. I have often thought this is an anti-euphemism - you are not only unemployed, but you are redundant.
- pnathan 11y ago
  Not to speak for Patrick, but a layoff is a specific kind of exit; as an example: in a factory, workers will be laid off for a month when orders are low, then called in again when volume picks up. It's probably the case that if one is contemplating shutting the company down, an hour with a HR-oriented lawyer would be worth it to avoid saying the wrong thing (and thus ending up in court). You can find a definition here: http://definitions.uslegal.com/l/layoff/ http://definitions.uslegal.com/l/layoff/
danieltillett 11y ago
Firing people is never fun - about the only good thing that can be said about firing is the more you do the better you become at it. It is pretty obvious to say don’t run out of money, the trap to avoid is thinking that if you can just hold out another week everything will be OK. I nearly fell into this myself and to this day I don’t know if I fired everyone too soon or not. Would the contract have come through if I held out a month longer or would I just have got myself into a deep hole that I could not get out of? The reason I did pull the plug when I did is I had decided long before that if we ever reached a minimum bank balance I would pull the plug. I think if I had not had this concrete number I might have tried holding out that little bit longer.

by patio11 11y ago

ScottBurson 11y ago

Why do you suggest the term "fired" instead of "laid off"? The latter seems rather more appropriate.

danieltillett 11y ago
I can’t speak for Patrick, but there is actual value in calling lay offs what they really are (firings) so you avoid falling into euphemistic thinking. The whole reason we have the babble of management speech is people are avoid facing up to what they are really doing. When you fire some to save the company be honest about it and don’t pretend you are giving them the “chance to pursue other opportunities”.
- ScottBurson 11y ago
  I agree that "chance to pursue other opportunities" is bullshit. But there's a real difference between "fired" and "laid off". Being fired and being laid off are two distinct ways of leaving a position. Being fired vs. laid off can impact your eligibility for unemployment as well as your hiring prospects for the future. [0] If the distinction is relevant to the unemployment compensation system, I don't think you can wave it away as a euphemism. [0] http://jobsearch.about.com/od/firedtermination/qt/fired-laid-off.htm http://jobsearch.about.com/od/firedtermination/qt/fired-laid...
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    I am not suggesting that you don't do the right thing by the employee, and making sure their employment is end in the right legal way is important, just that you should try to avoid euphemisms when faced with difficult situations. Here in Australia we call laying someone off as being made redundant. I have often thought this is an anti-euphemism - you are not only unemployed, but you are redundant.
pnathan 11y ago
Not to speak for Patrick, but a layoff is a specific kind of exit; as an example: in a factory, workers will be laid off for a month when orders are low, then called in again when volume picks up. It's probably the case that if one is contemplating shutting the company down, an hour with a HR-oriented lawyer would be worth it to avoid saying the wrong thing (and thus ending up in court). You can find a definition here: http://definitions.uslegal.com/l/layoff/ http://definitions.uslegal.com/l/layoff/

danieltillett 11y ago

Firing people is never fun - about the only good thing that can be said about firing is the more you do the better you become at it. It is pretty obvious to say don’t run out of money, the trap to avoid is thinking that if you can just hold out another week everything will be OK. I nearly fell into this myself and to this day I don’t know if I fired everyone too soon or not. Would the contract have come through if I held out a month longer or would I just have got myself into a deep hole that I could not get out of? The reason I did pull the plug when I did is I had decided long before that if we ever reached a minimum bank balance I would pull the plug. I think if I had not had this concrete number I might have tried holding out that little bit longer.