4 ms·

Is it true that many Silicon Valley employers have free cafeterias, as the author states without citation? Or is this just an obvious reference to Google?

vmception 6y ago
Many have free cafeterias or free catered lunch and catered snacks. There are startups that deliver food to other startups, printing revenue numbers using the same VC’s entire portfolio of companies, therefore sloshing around the exact same dollars in order to get an attractive revenue multiple and exit. Understanding that makes understanding the whole of Silicon Valley much easier.
- zo7 6y ago
  > There are startups that deliver food to other startups, printing revenue numbers using the same VC’s entire portfolio of companies, therefore sloshing around the exact same dollars in order to get an attractive revenue multiple and exit. Wow, I hadn't realized that. I looked up the catering company one of my previous employers used and perhaps unsurprisingly they share investors.
  - vmception 6y ago
    ka-ching A lot of people look at having venture capital as validation, when it is really about how convenient the shares are in a private equity portfolio at that point in time. Some people understand that and are selling placement in a portfolio instead of selling an idea.
gumby 6y ago
It’s quite common and predates Google.
URSpider94 6y ago
Common, but not universal. It’s much more common in smaller startups, and often fades away as companies scale and costs go up nonlinearly. At a 20 person company, you can throw a pile of burritos on the conference room table. At 10k employees, you need a full kitchen staff, dishwashers, food safety team, etc. Of the FAANG, I believe only Google and FB have free meals on a regular basis.
- dilyevsky 6y ago
  Apple is not free but heavily subsidized and the quality is much better than the other two ime.
  - jjtheblunt 6y ago
    Agreed : i ate extremely healthfully while there for years, anecdotally.

vmception 6y ago

Many have free cafeterias or free catered lunch and catered snacks. There are startups that deliver food to other startups, printing revenue numbers using the same VC’s entire portfolio of companies, therefore sloshing around the exact same dollars in order to get an attractive revenue multiple and exit. Understanding that makes understanding the whole of Silicon Valley much easier.

zo7 6y ago
> There are startups that deliver food to other startups, printing revenue numbers using the same VC’s entire portfolio of companies, therefore sloshing around the exact same dollars in order to get an attractive revenue multiple and exit. Wow, I hadn't realized that. I looked up the catering company one of my previous employers used and perhaps unsurprisingly they share investors.
- vmception 6y ago
  ka-ching A lot of people look at having venture capital as validation, when it is really about how convenient the shares are in a private equity portfolio at that point in time. Some people understand that and are selling placement in a portfolio instead of selling an idea.

gumby 6y ago

It’s quite common and predates Google.

URSpider94 6y ago

Common, but not universal. It’s much more common in smaller startups, and often fades away as companies scale and costs go up nonlinearly. At a 20 person company, you can throw a pile of burritos on the conference room table. At 10k employees, you need a full kitchen staff, dishwashers, food safety team, etc. Of the FAANG, I believe only Google and FB have free meals on a regular basis.

dilyevsky 6y ago
Apple is not free but heavily subsidized and the quality is much better than the other two ime.
- jjtheblunt 6y ago
  Agreed : i ate extremely healthfully while there for years, anecdotally.