Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

sahillavingia.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 543 posts

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#11

Post by systemvoltage »

I honestly think this is great. We can precisely write, but cannot precisely voice. Auditory communication through mouth and ears is low bandwidth, has high dependency over who has more testosterone, energy, enthusiasm, listening skills, attention, retention and record, etc. Writing has a permanent record, you can take time to form your opinions and respectfully argue.

What are the downsides? I think immediate feedback, and fast back and forth in voice communication is what I miss the most. And ofcourse, bonding with people.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#12

Post by CydeWeys »

Pulcinella wrote: post #8

TL;DR The founder of Gumroad fired all his employees and replaced some with and rehired some on contract. Gumroad does not provide benefits like healthcare. Your hourly rate gets cut cut in half after you work more than 20 hours a week. The article is a nice way of saying that the founder largely just collects rent while putting minimal resources into the business.

Yeah, hard pass. If I'm gonna be a 1099 contractor my rate will need to be very high (roughly $500/hr). Otherwise I'm sticking with my FTE job. And I'd need to be able to pick up more than the 20 hours per week than this guy will give me too, so I'd need multiple clients.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#14

Post by elliekelly »

tosh wrote: post #2

anti-overtime, interesting! > We also have an “anti-overtime” rate: past twenty hours a week, people can continue to work at an hourly rate of 50 percent. This allows us to have a high hourly rate for the highest leverage work and also allows people to work more per week if they wish.

This is a great idea but I think it would only work in the context of “no deadlines” like Gumroad has implemented otherwise it would just seem cruel.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#15

Post by philipkiely »

I work at Gumroad, mentioned in this article.

Sometimes, I read things by CEOs about how a company works on the inside and I wonder if it really looks like that, or if it is a view from the top that doesn't reflect what it's really like.

This article, with its discussions of the upsides and downsides, is accurate to my experience and my understanding of other people's experiences. For many people, Gumroad wouldn't be a great place to work, but for those of us who want to work like this, it is exactly what we need. Very glad to be working at Gumroad and working in the ways the article describes.

Edit: Following up with a few FAQs from posts in the thread:

* Health Insurance: I'm personally lucky enough to still be covered on my dad's health insurance until I turn 26, thanks to the ACA, though for supplementary (vision, dental) I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same.

* Regarding overtime, benefits, etc: we make very competitive rates as contractors. I sincerely appreciate your concern, though.

* On the shift from full-time employees to contractors, the company declined and was rebuilt over a period of five years. I'm a relatively recent addition, so I only know Gumroad as it is now, I cannot comment on how it was. All I can say is that it's not like Sahil went out and fired everyone and then the next day it was a bunch of contractors.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#16

Post by meowster »

draw_down wrote: post #3

This is maybe the only “how we work” I’ve ever read that is actually appealing. It really does sound wonderful. My only question is around health insurance for the US based folks (I’m guessing the answer is “take the money we pay you and go buy some” which is unfortunately not a good solution) but otherwise yes, sounds ideal.

It might be a better solution that tying health insurance with a job. Doing so seems to make it harder (more expensive) for people without jobs to get health insurance. But otherwise, what they're doing seems interesting.

FYI, I had to vouch for your comment. Looking at your comment history to see why, maybe try staying away from one or two word replies.

Edit: I see HN as a place for people to improve. If it seems like someone has the ability to make HN a better place with just a minor adjustment, it seems like the best course of action for everyone would be to make that person aware of the issue and giving them the opportunity to change it, rather than hiding it and basically ignoring the person.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#17

Post by kortilla »

tosh wrote: post #2

anti-overtime, interesting! > We also have an “anti-overtime” rate: past twenty hours a week, people can continue to work at an hourly rate of 50 percent. This allows us to have a high hourly rate for the highest leverage work and also allows people to work more per week if they wish.

This sounds ripe for a lawsuit or some really bad PR. Wait until the labor groups find out you punish the people desperate for more hours to make ends meet.

It’s better to implement an hour cap or require approval for any overtime.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#19

Post by thesausageking »

Let me understand this. Gumroad raises $8m from VCs, isn't able to grow fast enough, so the VCs agree to give up any claim on the company. Sahil fires all of the employees, hires a cheap contracting firm and some of the employees back as part-time contractors. The company now does $11m in revenue, most of which is profit and Sahil keeps.

That's amazing. For Sahil. Not so great if you were one of his investors or former employees who had options.

Post reply on HN