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Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

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Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#61

Post by fuzztester »

dave78 wrote: post #18
pknomad wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've experienced something similar at Peloton where a C-level kept bringing former reports at Uber for key roles and started to push out the existing employees. It's business at the end of the day but I do think there's a graceful way of bringing people in from former companies.

Same thing at my company, only it was a former Microsoft employee who brought along all his buddies. They screwed up a bunch of stuff because they didn't understand our market or customers, and then all slowly got let go before having to contend with the full consequences of their bad decisions. We're now in a multi year recovery process.

This practice of bringing in former reports or buddies is very common in the industry, both in startups and established companies.

You just have to look at the About us / Management/ Leadership page on the company web site and correlate a few names, current positions and positions in former companies, to get it.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#62

Post by KRAKRISMOTT »

psunavy03 wrote: post #38

The thing to keep in mind is that they have competitors still eating their lunch while running 40+ year-old COBOL backends which have their IS departments tearing their hair out regularly. It's as if the efficacy of a business isn't completely positively correlated with the coolness of its tech stack. I work for one of their competitors, and I'd kill for their tech stack. But ultimately their business revolves around…

They should have just used all their funding to buy a controlling stake in Maersk instead.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#63

Post by psunavy03 »

jerglingu wrote: post #46
psunavy03 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty provincial attitude probably propagated by some overpaid MAANG bro who doesn't realize that there's an entire industry of tech folks out there who aren't making $300K/yr TC. So if you are making that . . . a little humility is in order.

I indeed was a former “MAANG bro”, but this is sentiment gleaned from both a cohort of former coworkers who had stints there, along with general Flexporter attitude on Blind (which, for its imperfections and distortions, gives pretty good signal on company morale and culture).

I'm saying for what you call a "retirement colony," there are dozens of businesses in which the vast majority of the tech industry actually work. Blind is where spoiled rich people complain about being rich in the wrong way.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#64

Post by q7xvh97o2pDhNrh »

gausswho wrote: post #26
scrum-treats wrote: post #2

Additional information on Dave Clark's impact: "Some Flexport insiders say layoffs and an influx of former Amazon leaders are wrecking morale."[1] '"These people do not have conversations — they make demands," one laid-off employee said. Unsatisfactory answers could be met with harsh feedback, sources said. One laid-off Flexporter said an Amazon veteran told them, "I don't believe a word you're saying," during a pres…

I don't like to look askance at alumni of particular employers, but I have had one too many a poor experience from ex-Amazon hired into leadership roles. The above matches my experience. For me, the worst casualty as various lackeys followed arrival (also ex-Amazon) was the choking out of candidness. Second worst was turning the company into a document factory.

Do you mind saying more about "the choking out of candidness"?

I know they've got their "leadership principles" kool-aid [1] at the interview stage, but I always assumed that a seriously profitable and hard-working company (which they seem to be) wouldn't waste time mincing words.

[1]: https://www.aboutamazon.com/about-us/leadership-principles

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#65

Post by Nimitz14 »

darksaints wrote: post #43
jzb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not saying you’re wrong, but a bit more substance and less vitriol might be illuminating. I can’t recall hearing anything about him good or bad (This comment aside…).

I could probably write a book on him and everything he did at Amazon that was worth talking about, and I gotta admit, I didn't want to start today, but you're right that he deserves an explanation. Here's a few snippets that can be directly attributed to him: * Amazon's policy of firing people on the spot for talking about unionizing. * Their (former) policy of not operating anywhere where they would end up having to…

This is the tea I live for.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#66

Post by pknomad »

fuzztester wrote: post #61
dave78 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing at my company, only it was a former Microsoft employee who brought along all his buddies. They screwed up a bunch of stuff because they didn't understand our market or customers, and then all slowly got let go before having to contend with the full consequences of their bad decisions. We're now in a multi year recovery process.

This practice of bringing in former reports or buddies is very common in the industry, both in startups and established companies. You just have to look at the About us / Management/ Leadership page on the company web site and correlate a few names, current positions and positions in former companies, to get it.

I feel conflicted about the matter. I understand the appeal of bringing in people you know; they are a known quantity and involve less risk-taking than hiring an unknown person.

I can see it going super well if the new people brought in are liked and the culture from the older company is good. In our case, it was the opposite and tanked the team morale.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#67

Post by PedroBatista »

Isn't Flexport the company that was on HN's top page pretty much every week for like 2-3 years? Always hiring?

Having a general idea of how logistics work ( it's an huge complex and many times insane monster sometimes devourer of men ), something's was "off" with this whole Flexport signaling.

Not saying it's a time bomb or a WeWork because I don't have any information about that, but I always had the general feeling to stay away.

About the CEO thing, who knows.. CEO's are to blame but we tend to forget founders and "the board" are most of the times the biggest offenders. Their "visions" and key objectives many times lead to an absolute mad-house inside companies and ruined lives.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#69

Post by infecto »

ryandrake wrote: post #45
whack wrote: post #33

I'm sure there's some juicy details behind the curtains, but people are too professional to air it publicly. Here's some fun but baseless theories: 1) Typical big-company guy fails to adapt to startup life. A year ago, Flexport's tech team was 400 people. That's minuscule compared to what Dave's used to at Amazon. He came in, insisted on a bunch of unnecessary hiring, bloated the tech team with deadwood, internal kin…

I vote for the more mundane: 3) Bored mega-millionaire wants a neat hobby to try for a year. His previous Amazon compensation for 2021 was $56 million[1], so it's not like he needs to try anymore, or make money basically ever again. 12 months later he's still bored. Maybe he quit to spend more time bathing in bathtubs full of hundred dollar bills. 1: https://fortune.com/2022/06/08/amazon-former-no-2-dave-clark...

Probably not but who knows. My own experience is usually these type of people keep going for quite a while. It’s how they make it to where they are.

Re: Flexport CEO resigns a year after joining logistics company

#70

Post by psunavy03 »

whack wrote: post #33

I'm sure there's some juicy details behind the curtains, but people are too professional to air it publicly. Here's some fun but baseless theories: 1) Typical big-company guy fails to adapt to startup life. A year ago, Flexport's tech team was 400 people. That's minuscule compared to what Dave's used to at Amazon. He came in, insisted on a bunch of unnecessary hiring, bloated the tech team with deadwood, internal kin…

3) Amazon grad takes hold of a freight forwarder, and then realizes freight forwarding is not a tech company, nor is it just warehousing and distribution.

And then realizes his competitors rely as much on grizzled logistics veterans and their corporate knowledge about customs brokerage and how to Get Shit Done and Get Shit From Point A to Point B as they do on a cool tech stack. And then goes "shit."

Don't get me wrong. From a tech perspective, a lot of Flexport's competitors could use a size-18 boot in the ass. But tech is an enabler for them, not the core business. So there's only so much willingness to fork out cash for what senior leaders see as a supporting function. I mean, if their 40-year-old COBOL backend still works, they DGAF that it's outdated. At least until it can't keep up with the modern side or it starts falling over when all the devs retire, which is a separate story.

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