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After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

bloomberg.com

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Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#11

Post by draw_down »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #3

I don't buy this. I have no issues with Zenefits and I am actually happy they were able to see phenomenal growth. However I must say this whole situation of the CEO stepping down feels staged to me. It is as if everyone was in on it and this move was calculated by all of them a long time ago. Like when we ready and my stocks are safe and sound blame it on me.

Oh, you have no issues with Zenefits so the whole thing must be staged! Of course! As if it's so hard to believe a CEO would engage in unethical behavior. Sheesh.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#12

Post by minimaxir »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #3

I don't buy this. I have no issues with Zenefits and I am actually happy they were able to see phenomenal growth. However I must say this whole situation of the CEO stepping down feels staged to me. It is as if everyone was in on it and this move was calculated by all of them a long time ago. Like when we ready and my stocks are safe and sound blame it on me.

Mel Brooks already showed us that doesn't work in The Producers. An exit scam with potential jailtime is not a wise idea.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#13

Post by rokhayakebe »

draw_down wrote: post #11
rokhayakebe wrote: post #3

I don't buy this. I have no issues with Zenefits and I am actually happy they were able to see phenomenal growth. However I must say this whole situation of the CEO stepping down feels staged to me. It is as if everyone was in on it and this move was calculated by all of them a long time ago. Like when we ready and my stocks are safe and sound blame it on me.

Oh, you have no issues with Zenefits so the whole thing must be staged! Of course! As if it's so hard to believe a CEO would engage in unethical behavior. Sheesh.

I have no issue with them because I did not fully read a single article to form an opinion on whether or not they are guilty.

However what I am sure of is there is absolutely no way this 4.5 Billion company was acting illegally and only one person , the CEO, knew about this for YEARS and is responsible for it end to end.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#14

Post by wtvanhest »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #5

$4.5 billion valuation on $60 million annual revenue from non-compliant activity? Anyone know the investment thesis on that?

This is a great read: https://www.quora.com/What-are-revenue-multiples-for-technol...

Also, it's a good idea to assume that the documents which established the valuation likely have many terms which make the published numbers not represent the economic reality of the investment/contract. Liquidation preferences make any comparison between private and public companies extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#16

Post by meritt »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #3

I don't buy this. I have no issues with Zenefits and I am actually happy they were able to see phenomenal growth. However I must say this whole situation of the CEO stepping down feels staged to me. It is as if everyone was in on it and this move was calculated by all of them a long time ago. Like when we ready and my stocks are safe and sound blame it on me.

Stepping down? He was fired by the board. He did a damn good job growing the business but didn't bother with the necessary compliance, legal, and bureaucratic steps. The company needs a new type of leader to take them to IPO otherwise we'll have another disaster like we did with Groupon and Andrew Mason.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#17

Post by pbreit »

I'm not sure there's a whole lot from this story to apply elsewhere. David Sacks is who you want to be running the show. He has 2 fairly epic successes under his belt (PayPal and Yammer), one of the keenest product minds in the business, nearly unlimited access to funding and talent, moral authority as a founder and lawyer and operator to clean up the mess, etc.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#19

Post by pbreit »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #5

$4.5 billion valuation on $60 million annual revenue from non-compliant activity? Anyone know the investment thesis on that?

Fastest growing SaaS business ever? The non-compliant activity was not crucial for success and easily rectified. The service offered is core to pretty much every business on the planet and touches every single employee in the business.

Re: After Zenefits, Will VCs Rein in Their Unicorns?

#20

Post by jsprogrammer »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #3

I don't buy this. I have no issues with Zenefits and I am actually happy they were able to see phenomenal growth. However I must say this whole situation of the CEO stepping down feels staged to me. It is as if everyone was in on it and this move was calculated by all of them a long time ago. Like when we ready and my stocks are safe and sound blame it on me.

The article claims the AH meeting occurred on the 1st, while the HR/PR announcent was a week later.

Of course it was staged: you have a corporate guard change. What don't you "buy" about this story?

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