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Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

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Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#151

Post by joegahona »

bryant wrote: post #86
strikelaserclaw wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i hate this trend of ceos saying they take responsibility. Reminds me of lord farquuad, "some of you may die, but that is a price i'm willing to pay"

They know what accountability is. That's why they never use the word. Yeah we know you're responsible for it, but how are you being held accountable for it? No one will remember in two years time, but my hope is it'll factor into candidates' decisions around whether to pursue a career with Stripe. If I've got senior executives without accountability, it's a distraction to my ability to deliver the product as well as…

Do you have an example handy of a CEO who has provided acceptable accountability in a situation like this?

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#152

Post by pixl97 »

BaseballPhysics wrote: post #64
pid-1 wrote: post #20

> In making these changes, you might reasonably wonder whether Stripe’s leadership made some errors of judgment. We’d go further than that. In our view, we made two very consequential mistakes, and we want to highlight them here since they’re important: > - We were much too optimistic about the internet economy’s near-term growth in 2022 and 2023 and underestimated both the likelihood and impact of a broader slowdown…

That first point is key, and I think they're being... less than honest. The reality is there's very little evidence for an actual "broader slowdown". GDP growth in the US was decent in the last quarter despite a huge decline in home sales and headwinds from inflation, and unemployment remains at record lows. There's certainly some signs for concern, but the only real, persistent decline has been in the stock market (…

>The reality is there's very little evidence for an actual "broader slowdown".

I'm not sure about 'broader slowdown' but in the industry I'm in we've seen a massive slowdown in signups and expansions in the existing customers. When we speak with our customers, especially banks, they are seeing massive slowdowns on their side.

Someone has bad metrics here, and when most of our customers across a wide range of industries are laying off, then I'd say that's pretty broad.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#153

Post by brentm »

tempsy wrote: post #36

I feel bad for employees that have waited a decade to cash out. No reason why Stripe couldn’t have gone public in 2020-2021 at a huge valuation but from past interviews it sounds like the decision to remain private was just a founder preference thing because “focus” or something. Now the IPO market is completely frozen and its valuation is likely cut in half from peak, at least.

The trend of companies taking huge late stage rounds was always going to blow up the public tech IPO market. Many companies get too used to free money and operating with little inspection. By the time they feel like they "have to go public" the growth rate has peaked and they haven't learned to operate with any level of financial scrutiny. Result is private market investors do great and all too frequently public markets bomb in 6-12 months or sooner.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#154

Post by ericb »

Barrin92 wrote: post #150
ericb wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did they screw up, though? Their psychic abilities failed? A coin flip came up tails but they bet on heads?

preparing for an eventual end to the free money rally instead of over-hiring isn't exactly something I'd consider to fall into the realm of psychic abilities. is "we're a fast growing business but this cannot last indefinitely, let's not overexpand" ´really too much to ask for? It's constantly happening to tech companies because of their internal fantasies.

If they under-expand, people will similarly complain when their stock languishes compared to other stocks and the board will replace them with someone telling a growth story. The only thing the stock market rewards is growth, so is it really their fantasy?

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#155

Post by eganist »

lefstathiou wrote: post #134
eganist wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how they're supporting their employees, but this would've already been accounted for anyway (the vesting, potential bonuses, pay through Feb 2023, etc), so this isn't accountability so much as it's "we'll, we won't see the immediate benefit until March" Would've been a different story for instance if pc/jc were diluted with new grants to departing and existing employees.

What more do you want? They are paying out millions in cash ("out of the goodness in their heart"... ie they don't have to and people shouldnt expect) which is directly reducing the value of the equity, which impacts them more than anyone else by a huge proportion. Handing out equity grants makes no little sense to me and is unlikely what these employees want... "hey you're fired, here's some stock at our latest valu…

I don't want anything; I have no intention of working for stripe.

But in the face of fundraising headwinds, a decision to cut costs like this only improves (or stabilizes anyway) their ability to raise at a valuation closer to what they're looking for in this down market. The severance package here only deferred the benefit to the bottom line, but it wasn't a consequence for over-hiring and potentially disrupting lives.

In other words, the layoffs actually benefit the founders directly, and it ends up becoming a perverse incentive to over-hire and lay off again with the next boom/bust. Successful accountability means people actually avoid doing shitty things.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#156

Post by brentm »

nytesky wrote: post #96
tempsy wrote: post #36

I feel bad for employees that have waited a decade to cash out. No reason why Stripe couldn’t have gone public in 2020-2021 at a huge valuation but from past interviews it sounds like the decision to remain private was just a founder preference thing because “focus” or something. Now the IPO market is completely frozen and its valuation is likely cut in half from peak, at least.

Is Stripe profitable? I heard some of its financing is from PE and bank funding, which tend to be less tolerant of money losing or low profit operations. If they are not profitable they will need more capital eventually or to lengthen their runway.

I don't believe that is public information but they always could be cash flow positive if they needed to be that's for sure.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#157

Post by allisdust »

memish wrote: post #90
eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

That's the most generous package I have seen in a while. Stripe seems to be nice even during layoffs.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#158

Post by no_butterscotch »

tempsy wrote: post #36

I feel bad for employees that have waited a decade to cash out. No reason why Stripe couldn’t have gone public in 2020-2021 at a huge valuation but from past interviews it sounds like the decision to remain private was just a founder preference thing because “focus” or something. Now the IPO market is completely frozen and its valuation is likely cut in half from peak, at least.

At this point in time I wonder if many people with senior level shares have found other alternatives to cash out. Secondary markets for instance.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#159

Post by kamkha »

jesuscript wrote: post #112
jtaft wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many find the r word offensive. Can you please be kinder and express yourself differently? https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-the-r-word-3105651 Your post brings up interesting view points, thanks for sharing.

Quoted post unavailable.

I get your frustration here, but keep in mind: your use of that word is not harming Stripe any more than alternatives you could use, but it does harm an unrelated and oppressed group.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#160

Post by ulfw »

nsxwolf wrote: post #137
ulfw wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's zero responsibility. Just empty words that frankly are unnecessary in the situation.

What would make it better in your eyes? A year's severance? 2 years?

What does severance have to do with it?

I was talking about the alleged 'responsibility' by the billionaire owners. Yet said responsibility doesn't lead to job loss or anything. It's empty words.

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