3 ms·

This is surreal to read. Can anyone please explain how is it possible for the board to value so much someone? I don't see what can possibly justify this kind o

This is surreal to read. Can anyone please explain how is it possible for the board to value so much someone? I don't see what can possibly justify this kind of compensation...

sebzim4500 4y ago
His equity was presumably worth much less when it was given to him.
- calciphus 4y ago
  He joined around a year ago, it is now worth 72% less than when he joined. Possibly part of the reason to depart? A $70M comp cut and little hope of it recovering seems a good reason
swyx 4y ago
not so much the board as Brian Armstrong himself. he seems to have a history of very dubious C-suite hires, including acquihiring Balaji's Earn.com for $100m and constantly talking up his impact when it turned out to be.. a shitty e-learning platform (https://www.coinbase.com/learning-rewards https://www.coinbase.com/learning-rewards) (i know i sound negative about all this but if i'm mistaken about Earn please correct me)
- mikeyouse 4y ago
  Balaji pulled off a heck of a heist himself. Partner at A16Z, spin out some bizarre crypto oil-cooled mining company, pivot like 4-5 times, and then have Coinbase, the company with your VC partners on the board "acquire" your failed startup for 10 figures after it's already burned through over $100M of investor money. These dudes just begging the SEC to get involved in VC deals.
  - Apocryphon 4y ago
    How many of this industry’s thought leaders are similarly scummy?
    - reducesuffering 4y ago
      Let's see: Chris Dixon (a16z crypto), Chamath (pump and dump extraordinaire), and basically everyone on https://twitter.com/VCBrags https://twitter.com/VCBrags . Especially: https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1588954788334800896 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1588954788334800896 and https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1572301007383851009 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1572301007383851009 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1608178902664642561 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1608178902664642561
  - swyx 4y ago
    dont take away agency from Brian. by all accounts an excellent founder, enthusiastically supporting Balaji even after Earn was effectively shut down. Brian's vocal support is the one reason I still doubt my own assessment of Earn.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

This is surreal to read. Can anyone please explain how is it possible for the board to value so much someone? I don't see what can possibly justify this kind of compensation...

sebzim4500 4y ago

His equity was presumably worth much less when it was given to him.

calciphus 4y ago
He joined around a year ago, it is now worth 72% less than when he joined. Possibly part of the reason to depart? A $70M comp cut and little hope of it recovering seems a good reason

swyx 4y ago

not so much the board as Brian Armstrong himself. he seems to have a history of very dubious C-suite hires, including acquihiring Balaji's Earn.com for $100m and constantly talking up his impact when it turned out to be.. a shitty e-learning platform (https://www.coinbase.com/learning-rewards https://www.coinbase.com/learning-rewards) (i know i sound negative about all this but if i'm mistaken about Earn please correct me)

mikeyouse 4y ago
Balaji pulled off a heck of a heist himself. Partner at A16Z, spin out some bizarre crypto oil-cooled mining company, pivot like 4-5 times, and then have Coinbase, the company with your VC partners on the board "acquire" your failed startup for 10 figures after it's already burned through over $100M of investor money. These dudes just begging the SEC to get involved in VC deals.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  How many of this industry’s thought leaders are similarly scummy?
  - reducesuffering 4y ago
    Let's see: Chris Dixon (a16z crypto), Chamath (pump and dump extraordinaire), and basically everyone on https://twitter.com/VCBrags https://twitter.com/VCBrags . Especially: https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1588954788334800896 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1588954788334800896 and https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1572301007383851009 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1572301007383851009 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1608178902664642561 https://twitter.com/VCBrags/status/1608178902664642561
- swyx 4y ago
  dont take away agency from Brian. by all accounts an excellent founder, enthusiastically supporting Balaji even after Earn was effectively shut down. Brian's vocal support is the one reason I still doubt my own assessment of Earn.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]