Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
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Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#2> One of the most unnerving aspects of life at Tanium is what's known internally as Orion's List. The CEO allegedly kept a close eye on which employees would soon be eligible to take sizable chunks of stock. For those he could stand to do without, Hindawi ordered the workers to be fired before they were able to acquire the shares, according to current and former employees.
Employees at startups generally take a below-market salary in exchange for equity compensation, so imagine the double humiliation of being fired because your first shred of equity is about to vest.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#3> One of the most unnerving aspects of life at Tanium is what's known internally as Orion's List . The CEO allegedly kept a close eye on which employees would soon be eligible to take sizable chunks of stock. For those he could stand to do without, Hindawi ordered the workers to be fired before they were able to acquire the shares, according to current and former employees. Employees at startups generally take a belo…
It appears that they were fired just before their stock vested. That's why as an employee you should never agree to vest all your stock at the end of a multiple year period but in small chunks over time (annually, usually).
That still carries risk but not as much. Assuming you assign value to the stock at all.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#4This sums up nicely why working for someone else's dream (the dipshit Orion's in this case) is a bad idea.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#5> One of the most unnerving aspects of life at Tanium is what's known internally as Orion's List . The CEO allegedly kept a close eye on which employees would soon be eligible to take sizable chunks of stock. For those he could stand to do without, Hindawi ordered the workers to be fired before they were able to acquire the shares, according to current and former employees. Employees at startups generally take a belo…
It appears that they were fired just before their stock vested. That's why as an employee you should never agree to vest all your stock at the end of a multiple year period but in small chunks over time (annually, usually). That still carries risk but not as much. Assuming you assign value to the stock at all.
I would run away from any deal with a multi-year all at once vesting period. It's just too clever.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#6Whoever thought that calling 'Orions List' 'Schindlers List' was clever has no idea what Schindlers List was all about.
> The situation at Tanium underscores the risk of venture capitalists placing near-absolute power in the hands of a company’s creators.
That sentence does not make sense to me. It is a rule rather than an exception that VCs end up with minority shareholdings but usually favorable terms in case of liquidation. They don't 'place near-absolute power in the ands of a company's creators', they're simply later to the table and have correspondingly fewer shares bought at a significant premium.
The original founders call the shots and only if they dilute to the point that outside capital holds a majority does the equation change and even then there might still be different classes of shares to deal with.
For the most part VCs are along for the ride, they can make noise and they can try to win over the board but as long as the founders have 51% or more they call the shots.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#7Whoever thought that calling 'Orions List' 'Schindlers List' was clever has no idea what Schindlers List was all about. > The situation at Tanium underscores the risk of venture capitalists placing near-absolute power in the hands of a company’s creators. That sentence does not make sense to me. It is a rule rather than an exception that VCs end up with minority shareholdings but usually favorable terms in case of li…
The key is board majority, not common shares majority. Because board can change the rules.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#8> One of the most unnerving aspects of life at Tanium is what's known internally as Orion's List . The CEO allegedly kept a close eye on which employees would soon be eligible to take sizable chunks of stock. For those he could stand to do without, Hindawi ordered the workers to be fired before they were able to acquire the shares, according to current and former employees. Employees at startups generally take a belo…
It appears that they were fired just before their stock vested. That's why as an employee you should never agree to vest all your stock at the end of a multiple year period but in small chunks over time (annually, usually). That still carries risk but not as much. Assuming you assign value to the stock at all.
Did I miss the part of this story where they said they had nonstandard vesting? The industry standard is 4 year vesting, month by month, with a 1-year cliff. The traditional horror story is employees being fired just before they cliff.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#9Whoever thought that calling 'Orions List' 'Schindlers List' was clever has no idea what Schindlers List was all about. > The situation at Tanium underscores the risk of venture capitalists placing near-absolute power in the hands of a company’s creators. That sentence does not make sense to me. It is a rule rather than an exception that VCs end up with minority shareholdings but usually favorable terms in case of li…
The key is board majority, not common shares majority. Because board can change the rules.
The board does not change the shareholder agreement nor does the board change anything else to do with the shares. What the board can do - and will do - is fire the CEO if they are of the opinion the CEO is not functioning well, but if the CEO is also a shareholder and has majority control of the stock (or the confidence of the majority of the shareholders) he/she can call a shareholder meeting, get rid of the board and re-instate himself or herself.
Boards are not active at the level of shareholders, though many boards do have major shareholders as board members.
Re: Tanium is facing employee unrest and an executive exodus
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
It appears that they were fired just before their stock vested. That's why as an employee you should never agree to vest all your stock at the end of a multiple year period but in small chunks over time (annually, usually). That still carries risk but not as much. Assuming you assign value to the stock at all.
Did I miss the part of this story where they said they had nonstandard vesting? The industry standard is 4 year vesting, month by month, with a 1-year cliff. The traditional horror story is employees being fired just before they cliff.
No, I just think GGP is mis-interpreting the situation because of the article's unfortunate wording. Once the stock is vested it stays vested. Whether it is 'worth something' or not doesn't matter, if you've got it it stays unless you sell it. I suspect 'worth something' translates into 'something for which there is an easy market', merely whether or not you can easily sell it.
Whether this particular stock will go up or down after the IPO is any-body's guess.