4 ms·

Wong didn't want to move the company to SF. The board did. That's no small thing to disagree on.

zorpner 12y ago
I could absolutely believe that, and if it's the case that's what should have been said, not some technically-correct-but-obviously-downplayed pablum that insults the intelligence of every reader.
- cpeterso 12y ago
  The disagreement about "location and amount of money to spend on a lease" sounds like code for "disagreement on whether we need an SF office big enough to consolidate all our remote workers or not."
kickme444 12y ago
This is 100% not true. Yishan wanted the team to move to the same location and the board supported him. This was a question of office location, not centralizing.
- cpeterso 12y ago
  What about the office location was so contentious that the CEO would quit?
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - gojomo 12y ago
    Generally such a resignation is about being-overruled (board no-confidence), rather than just the particulars of one decision. With ~sama's revelation that Wong preferred a Daly City HQ, the battle-lines could have been: Pro-Daly-City: "more space, cheaper, less-cool, longer-runway, more employees who've self-selected for willingness to do Reddit muckwork vs. glamorous SoMa networking, outsider perspective" Pro-SF: "continuity with current employees, top talent prefers SF, worth the extra cost/cost-of-living, more transit links, closer to other media/advertising"
    - codezero 12y ago
      It would be interesting if startups would get together and do some real analysis on location. My company is in SoMa, and recruiting is not super easy, I'm confident if someone really wanted to work at Heap, they'd work in Daly City or Sunnyvale. Location has never been a great selling point. Maybe there is a certain kind of candidate for whom not being in the city is a dealbreaker, but I'd like to see numbers. That's not to say that this isn't a common and seemingly true myth of recruiting, but it would be interesting to be able to dispel or confirm it.
      - x0x0 12y ago
        I live in the peninsula and you would have to be my dream job to get me to drive to soma regularly. I do it once a week and, starting driving at 7:05 AM from San Mateo, it takes until 8am or just before to get into soma. Leaving at 8-9 would take longer.
        codezero 12y ago
        I don't drive. I caltrain. Train at least gives some alone time to get work done, the main issue is it restricts your schedule if you want to take fast trains. I train from Sunnyvale every day.
    - ryanSrich 12y ago
      Do you have anything to support your claim that top talent prefers SF? Just curious.
      - gojomo 12y ago
        Someone's paying the sky-high residential rents; it sure seems like it's top-compensated tech workers. See also: Google, Apple, Facebook, et al running comfy buses for SF residents to their distant HQs. And now the Reddit board is another data point. They didn't trust their CEO's call, unless they got more proof about employee retention after choosing a non-SF location.
chipotle_coyote 12y ago
Maybe I'm missing the context here, but Reddit is in San Francisco. They're in the same SoMa office building Wired is in.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- tehwebguy 12y ago
  Yes, the context is that it used to be a somewhat remote team and when the latest round of funding was raised everyone outside of SF was essentially forced to move to San Francisco.
  - chipotle_coyote 12y ago
    Okay, thanks. (I'm not really sure why someone's downvoted me for asking the question; it's not like I said "ha ha, OP is stupid for saying this." I was, in fact, missing context.)
- gojomo 12y ago
  Maybe Wong wanted to move HQ to the Valley proper, rather than SF itself? Almost all corporate HQ relocations move closer to the CEO's home. But also, there's a (plausibly-fair) knock on SF-city-based companies as being more superficial, frothier, and more prone to distraction and high-burn rates than those in the more-authentically-nerdy Valley. Maybe someone can leak where Wong wanted the new HQ to be.
  - zzleeper 12y ago
    > Almost all corporate HQ relocations move closer to the CEO's home. Is there any evidence of that? Seems quite interesting..
    - cschmidt 12y ago
      Apparently that is William Whyte's rule: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/OfficeNewYork.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/OfficeNewYork.html

I could absolutely believe that, and if it's the case that's what should have been said, not some technically-correct-but-obviously-downplayed pablum that insults the intelligence of every reader.

cpeterso 12y ago
The disagreement about "location and amount of money to spend on a lease" sounds like code for "disagreement on whether we need an SF office big enough to consolidate all our remote workers or not."

kickme444 12y ago

This is 100% not true. Yishan wanted the team to move to the same location and the board supported him. This was a question of office location, not centralizing.

cpeterso 12y ago
What about the office location was so contentious that the CEO would quit?
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- gojomo 12y ago
  Generally such a resignation is about being-overruled (board no-confidence), rather than just the particulars of one decision. With ~sama's revelation that Wong preferred a Daly City HQ, the battle-lines could have been: Pro-Daly-City: "more space, cheaper, less-cool, longer-runway, more employees who've self-selected for willingness to do Reddit muckwork vs. glamorous SoMa networking, outsider perspective" Pro-SF: "continuity with current employees, top talent prefers SF, worth the extra cost/cost-of-living, more transit links, closer to other media/advertising"
  - codezero 12y ago
    It would be interesting if startups would get together and do some real analysis on location. My company is in SoMa, and recruiting is not super easy, I'm confident if someone really wanted to work at Heap, they'd work in Daly City or Sunnyvale. Location has never been a great selling point. Maybe there is a certain kind of candidate for whom not being in the city is a dealbreaker, but I'd like to see numbers. That's not to say that this isn't a common and seemingly true myth of recruiting, but it would be interesting to be able to dispel or confirm it.
    - x0x0 12y ago
      I live in the peninsula and you would have to be my dream job to get me to drive to soma regularly. I do it once a week and, starting driving at 7:05 AM from San Mateo, it takes until 8am or just before to get into soma. Leaving at 8-9 would take longer.
      - codezero 12y ago
        I don't drive. I caltrain. Train at least gives some alone time to get work done, the main issue is it restricts your schedule if you want to take fast trains. I train from Sunnyvale every day.
  - ryanSrich 12y ago
    Do you have anything to support your claim that top talent prefers SF? Just curious.
    - gojomo 12y ago
      Someone's paying the sky-high residential rents; it sure seems like it's top-compensated tech workers. See also: Google, Apple, Facebook, et al running comfy buses for SF residents to their distant HQs. And now the Reddit board is another data point. They didn't trust their CEO's call, unless they got more proof about employee retention after choosing a non-SF location.

chipotle_coyote 12y ago

Maybe I'm missing the context here, but Reddit is in San Francisco. They're in the same SoMa office building Wired is in.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
tehwebguy 12y ago
Yes, the context is that it used to be a somewhat remote team and when the latest round of funding was raised everyone outside of SF was essentially forced to move to San Francisco.
- chipotle_coyote 12y ago
  Okay, thanks. (I'm not really sure why someone's downvoted me for asking the question; it's not like I said "ha ha, OP is stupid for saying this." I was, in fact, missing context.)
gojomo 12y ago
Maybe Wong wanted to move HQ to the Valley proper, rather than SF itself? Almost all corporate HQ relocations move closer to the CEO's home. But also, there's a (plausibly-fair) knock on SF-city-based companies as being more superficial, frothier, and more prone to distraction and high-burn rates than those in the more-authentically-nerdy Valley. Maybe someone can leak where Wong wanted the new HQ to be.
- zzleeper 12y ago
  > Almost all corporate HQ relocations move closer to the CEO's home. Is there any evidence of that? Seems quite interesting..
  - cschmidt 12y ago
    Apparently that is William Whyte's rule: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/OfficeNewYork.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/OfficeNewYork.html