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Thank you for pointing this out. For those reading, an archive now exists https://archive.fo/CJF9r https://archive.fo/CJF9r the original comment is at https://

by mcny 9y ago

Thank you for pointing this out. For those reading, an archive now exists https://archive.fo/CJF9r https://archive.fo/CJF9r the original comment is at https://medium.com/@ben_73928/as-one-of-the-team-members-let-go-i-dont-share-the-same-gratitude-posted-by-some-of-the-team-4029737df4ea https://medium.com/@ben_73928/as-one-of-the-team-members-let...

brucephillips 9y ago
> CEO and investment team ignored the negative aspects of the $700 lock and didn’t see that the competition would be able to provide the same features (and more) at less than 1/2 the price. If Ben realized this, he should have never worked at this company in the first place. It sounds like it was a failure of a product strategy.
- jjoonathan 9y ago
  A $700 lock is a product offering, not a product strategy. A strategy could have been "start with a $700 offering at the top of the market and work down," but that's not something they tell you on the way in, and even if they do, it's no guarantee that the execution will/won't work.
  - brucephillips 9y ago
    Whether you want to call it an offering or a strategy, Ben doesn't claim that the failure was due to any aspect of the business model other than a) price, and b) competitive risk. Both of these were risks that existed (I assume) at the time he joined the company. So he can't blame management for failing to assess these risks any more than he can blame himself.
  - wdewind 9y ago
    > A strategy could have been "start with a $700 offering at the top of the market and work down," but that's not something they tell you on the way in This is absolutely the kind of thing you should be asking about and they should be telling you on the way in. As an early stage startup employee you are basically an investor. You should deeply understand how the businesses you are joining are going to work, and if they wont tell you you should consider it a red flag.
    - bronson 9y ago
      I have been lied to on the way in. You hear about all this incredible stuff coming down the pipe that just needs a little more work. After a few months you figure out that that cashflow was 1/10th of what was implied and the pipe is dry.
danso 9y ago
Some tweets from Christmas Day : https://mobile.twitter.com/clickyspinny/status/945178843890851840 https://mobile.twitter.com/clickyspinny/status/9451788438908... > @joshelman do something. Help us. Two days notice before a holiday with no compensation for the fact that not a soul hires during these weeks. You have the $ to pay severance when you terminate 70 people. So you decided on letting us all get screwed. You need to help us.
- ams6110 9y ago
  Okay, there's possibly some reason for sympathy here. But how much were these 70 people being paid? How much did they save? How many of them could have been in a position to have a month or more of cash saved as an emergency fund? It's smart in any situation to save for a rainy day but especially so when you're working for a startup.
  - brucephillips 9y ago
    It's unlikely any of the employees are truly broke, they're just (rightfully) complaining about not getting a reasonable severance.
    - sillysaurus3 9y ago
      It's likely that several of these employees are legitimately broke (for reasons beyond their control, not because they're bad at adulting), but they conceal it. Signs of weakness harm your negotiating position.
      - brucephillips 9y ago
        Honest question: What normal circumstances would lead to anyone making six figures being broke that doesn't involve bad adulting?
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]

by mcny 9y ago

brucephillips 9y ago

> CEO and investment team ignored the negative aspects of the $700 lock and didn’t see that the competition would be able to provide the same features (and more) at less than 1/2 the price. If Ben realized this, he should have never worked at this company in the first place. It sounds like it was a failure of a product strategy.

jjoonathan 9y ago
A $700 lock is a product offering, not a product strategy. A strategy could have been "start with a $700 offering at the top of the market and work down," but that's not something they tell you on the way in, and even if they do, it's no guarantee that the execution will/won't work.
- brucephillips 9y ago
  Whether you want to call it an offering or a strategy, Ben doesn't claim that the failure was due to any aspect of the business model other than a) price, and b) competitive risk. Both of these were risks that existed (I assume) at the time he joined the company. So he can't blame management for failing to assess these risks any more than he can blame himself.
- wdewind 9y ago
  > A strategy could have been "start with a $700 offering at the top of the market and work down," but that's not something they tell you on the way in This is absolutely the kind of thing you should be asking about and they should be telling you on the way in. As an early stage startup employee you are basically an investor. You should deeply understand how the businesses you are joining are going to work, and if they wont tell you you should consider it a red flag.
  - bronson 9y ago
    I have been lied to on the way in. You hear about all this incredible stuff coming down the pipe that just needs a little more work. After a few months you figure out that that cashflow was 1/10th of what was implied and the pipe is dry.

danso 9y ago

Some tweets from Christmas Day : https://mobile.twitter.com/clickyspinny/status/945178843890851840 https://mobile.twitter.com/clickyspinny/status/9451788438908... > @joshelman do something. Help us. Two days notice before a holiday with no compensation for the fact that not a soul hires during these weeks. You have the $ to pay severance when you terminate 70 people. So you decided on letting us all get screwed. You need to help us.

ams6110 9y ago
Okay, there's possibly some reason for sympathy here. But how much were these 70 people being paid? How much did they save? How many of them could have been in a position to have a month or more of cash saved as an emergency fund? It's smart in any situation to save for a rainy day but especially so when you're working for a startup.
- brucephillips 9y ago
  It's unlikely any of the employees are truly broke, they're just (rightfully) complaining about not getting a reasonable severance.
  - sillysaurus3 9y ago
    It's likely that several of these employees are legitimately broke (for reasons beyond their control, not because they're bad at adulting), but they conceal it. Signs of weakness harm your negotiating position.
    - brucephillips 9y ago
      Honest question: What normal circumstances would lead to anyone making six figures being broke that doesn't involve bad adulting?
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]