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Honestly confused: why do you want to pay bonuses to retain execs of a failed company? Weren’t they responsible for that failure?

moonserver 8y ago
Not entirely: markets, competition, nature, people, etc. Is it 100% fair market? Well that's what a good portion of the article is also about.
excitom 8y ago
It takes a huge amount of money to build a successful hardware company and they failed because they ran short of cash. However Amazon seems to believe that their product idea and the people who conceived it have value, and that's what they paid for.
pageandrew 8y ago
Not necessarily. Companies fail for any number of reasons, not just executive incompetence. Eero is a hardware company, and hardware companies are require significant capital to operate. Its a very difficult space to operate in, especially pre-launch. > Hardware startups require a lot of cash, and technological progress can render a product obsolete before it has a chance to take off. Nearly all (97 percent) of the 400 hardware startups tracked in a 2017 report from CB Insights either died or became "zombies," companies that survive for awhile with VC money, but eventually fizzle out. Amazon purchased this company for its technology and people. Having the entire executive team leave immediately would make the transition exceedingly difficult. They want to incentivize these people to stay to assist in the transition, hence the payout.
gdulli 8y ago
I'd imagine the founders and execs aren't needed or wanted outside of ensuring basic continuity of the business short term. But they negotiated benefits for themselves and not the other employees because they were the ones negotiating.
hjk05 8y ago
Sports teams buy pro athletes from teams that loose all the time. Why? Because the players themselves are world class even though their team is loosing. One player on their own is never enough to secure victory for the entire team. So you can’t inversly put the fault of a loose entirely on every individual player.

moonserver 8y ago

Not entirely: markets, competition, nature, people, etc. Is it 100% fair market? Well that's what a good portion of the article is also about.

excitom 8y ago

It takes a huge amount of money to build a successful hardware company and they failed because they ran short of cash. However Amazon seems to believe that their product idea and the people who conceived it have value, and that's what they paid for.

pageandrew 8y ago

Not necessarily. Companies fail for any number of reasons, not just executive incompetence. Eero is a hardware company, and hardware companies are require significant capital to operate. Its a very difficult space to operate in, especially pre-launch. > Hardware startups require a lot of cash, and technological progress can render a product obsolete before it has a chance to take off. Nearly all (97 percent) of the 400 hardware startups tracked in a 2017 report from CB Insights either died or became "zombies," companies that survive for awhile with VC money, but eventually fizzle out. Amazon purchased this company for its technology and people. Having the entire executive team leave immediately would make the transition exceedingly difficult. They want to incentivize these people to stay to assist in the transition, hence the payout.

gdulli 8y ago

I'd imagine the founders and execs aren't needed or wanted outside of ensuring basic continuity of the business short term. But they negotiated benefits for themselves and not the other employees because they were the ones negotiating.

hjk05 8y ago

Sports teams buy pro athletes from teams that loose all the time. Why? Because the players themselves are world class even though their team is loosing. One player on their own is never enough to secure victory for the entire team. So you can’t inversly put the fault of a loose entirely on every individual player.