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Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

businessinsider.com

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Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#41

Post by itsoktocry »

jacquesm wrote: post #37
kgwgk wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Stock market" is normally used to refer to shares of public companies traded in stock exchanges. They don't need to make public announcements to communicate with private investors. There will be time to make the IPO attractive when the IPO comes. This is a quote in the article: "It's clear that our customers want us to be a profitable company they can rely on to solve important problems in their supply chain." I'd s…

Yes, that is what it normally means. But: the stock market has effects far beyond the stock market itself and Flexport supplies enough companies that are listed that their status can have significant effect. That's why you see publications like the Wall Street Journal reporting on them.

>But: the stock market has effects far beyond the stock market itself and Flexport supplies enough companies that are listed that their status can have significant effect. That's why you see publications like the Wall Street Journal reporting on them.

You are way overestimating the importance of FlexPort.

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#43

Post by guappa »

strangesmells02 wrote: post #39

Theyve been advertising theyre hiring on HN for years lol

I used to work at a startup that kept hiring people until it got shutdown.

One person worked there for 2 weeks before getting fired. Another hadn't even started yet.

I knew it was going down but since they were still hiring I thought I had all the time in the world to find something else.

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#44

Post by hef19898 »

jacquesm wrote: post #36
hef19898 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main reason I bootstrapped my, now defunct, attempted start-up. I didn't want a boss, so why would I take on something even worse, an investor? I wanted to be able to settle for a profitable boutique kind of thing, only a small number of investors would be fine with that and I had neither money nor time in finding those. You nailed it with your last sentence, VC nacked companies can simply out spend competitors,…

I do tech DD and get to see the other side of the table as well, which can be pretty interesting. Some VCs are cautious and spend wisely, others are reckless and will throw money away in the hope of a jackpot. I've seen business cases that were so broken they essentially amounted to VC subsidized re-sale of luxury goods and yet nobody thought twice about it. I think I understand the rationale behind about the 50% or…

I always thought that finding the "bigger fool" is annactual VC strategy, simply because it explains so much! YC play this really well, don't they? Getting in very early, having a lot of clout, making it easy for their portfolio companies to find invetstors, spreading their bets far and wide. Coming back to Softbank, they seem to be one of those "even bigger fools", short of a SPAC / ICO, don't they?

All in all, I realized I am quite happy doing a specialized job at big corp, not having to worry (I'm still interested, but is doesn't directly affect me anymore) about those things.

Edit: Always a pleasure running into discussions with you!

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#46

Post by michaelt »

matdehaast wrote: post #16
gadders wrote: post #12

Meh. I think Flexport proved what their word was worth when they rescinded loads of employment offers. Not an ethical company to deal with.

To be fired in the latest layoff a few weeks later.... Not sure what you want them to do?

Often established businesses that find themselves in a precarious financial situation will announce a hiring freeze several months before resorting to layoffs.

It's a much easier decision than laying people off, and much easier to reverse, so it can be taken a lot earlier. And you'll get a modest but relatively painless reduction in headcount due to attrition, if the rest of the job market is buoyant. It also means, if layoffs are needed a few months down the line, there isn't anyone being laid off on the day they join the company.

Of course, there are some situations where this doesn't work so well - for example, if employees will interpret the hiring freeze as a sign layoffs are inevitable they might suffer months of sleepless nights worrying if their neck will be on the chopping block.

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#47

Post by jacquesm »

itsoktocry wrote: post #41
jacquesm wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that is what it normally means. But: the stock market has effects far beyond the stock market itself and Flexport supplies enough companies that are listed that their status can have significant effect. That's why you see publications like the Wall Street Journal reporting on them.

> But: the stock market has effects far beyond the stock market itself and Flexport supplies enough companies that are listed that their status can have significant effect. That's why you see publications like the Wall Street Journal reporting on them. You are way overestimating the importance of FlexPort.

I've worked in that space, you are most likely underestimating the importance of FlexPort as a bellweather for whether (heh) or not FlexPort is able to materially change the freight forwarding business which has been solidly stuck in the past. A very small outfit that you've likely never heard of made massive changes possible in container shipping in the 80's and 90's, but that whole world is held together with duct tape and baling wire when it comes to IT. So FlexPort is an interesting company to monitor, it will either cause a revolution or it will go under. Obviously some investors (not the ones known for being cautious) thought it was a good bet. Some see this as a negative signal (myself included) some think it will go the other way. Regardless, their name is in play, whatever their actual effect on the whole logistics world is in terms of volume, what matter is how they deal with the parties that have signed on and whether or not it gives them a competitive edge.

They've been in business now for a decade, have multiple billions in turnover. True, on the whole that isn't 'significant' yet but it is a pretty strong indicator that there is something going on there that bears watching.

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#48

Post by jacquesm »

hef19898 wrote: post #44
jacquesm wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do tech DD and get to see the other side of the table as well, which can be pretty interesting. Some VCs are cautious and spend wisely, others are reckless and will throw money away in the hope of a jackpot. I've seen business cases that were so broken they essentially amounted to VC subsidized re-sale of luxury goods and yet nobody thought twice about it. I think I understand the rationale behind about the 50% or…

I always thought that finding the "bigger fool" is annactual VC strategy, simply because it explains so much! YC play this really well, don't they? Getting in very early, having a lot of clout, making it easy for their portfolio companies to find invetstors, spreading their bets far and wide. Coming back to Softbank, they seem to be one of those "even bigger fools", short of a SPAC / ICO, don't they? All in all, I re…

I think the 'bigger fool' is more of a 'plan-B' than a main strategy. And it only works so often.

Edit: likewise.

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#49

Post by anonzzzies »

Closi wrote: post #29
braza wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, I had a feeling that Flexport might run into problems one day, when Softbank invested, Softbank being such a harbinger of problems its only saving grace is setting Saudi money on fire. Also also, Flexport is the most impressive comoany coming out of YC if you ask me. All they have to do, is to aim being the next Schenker, Kühne & Nagel, XPO... instead of being the "global trade disruting tech thing" and they'…

I think this is an interesting point - I work in supply chain and commonly when tendering companies will say things like: "We have been profitable for 20 years straight" Being profitable in SCM is a sales point, being unprofitable is a risk.

> "We have been profitable for 20 years straight"

I don't know why this is more of a thing for other fields as well. I like my suppliers to be profitable for decades. All the new and shiny is ... well, new and shiny. Long term, I want stability, not new and shiny.

Re: Flexport will lay off 20% of the company starting Friday, leaked memo says

#50

Post by hef19898 »

jacquesm wrote: post #48
hef19898 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always thought that finding the "bigger fool" is annactual VC strategy, simply because it explains so much! YC play this really well, don't they? Getting in very early, having a lot of clout, making it easy for their portfolio companies to find invetstors, spreading their bets far and wide. Coming back to Softbank, they seem to be one of those "even bigger fools", short of a SPAC / ICO, don't they? All in all, I re…

I think the 'bigger fool' is more of a 'plan-B' than a main strategy. And it only works so often. Edit: likewise.

Well, at least they have a plan B, and, presumably, also a plan A!

That is two plans more than some!

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