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San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

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Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#21

Post by binxbolling »

asucks wrote: post #13

Hopefully they use some of this funding to start expanding to new states quicker. I was told last year they'd be available in my state by Q3 2103. That deadline came and went and now I'm being told "by the end of 2014." The current major companies offering payroll (SurePayroll and ADP) are both expensive difficult to use. I'm currently with SurePayroll and it sucks major balls. It's expensive, (I have 1 full time emp…

Definitely agree regarding their coverage -- only being in 7 out of 50 states is no minor drawback.

The death of ADP and its ilk can't come soon enough. Payroll might not be as 'sexy' as some other markets, but you're right that whichever start-up can battle the big guys here will absolutely make a lot of money.

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#22

Post by JonFish85 »

slg wrote: post #17
pkfrank wrote: post #3

The "Novel Ways:" 1) Housing stipend of $500/mo if employees live within a 10-minute walk of the office 2) A semi-annual retreat / hackathon where employees cook meals, hang out, bond, code, and present their projects 3) Plane ticket anywhere in the world that must be used between their 1 and 2-year anniversary at the company. I know of many companies that already do #1 and #2, but I suppose I haven't heard of this c…

The $500 per month housing stipend seems a little disingenuous. If the concern was truly about employees and rising real estate prices, why not raise wages by $6000 across the board? It isn't like real estate magically drops in value half a mile away or commuting longer distances is free. Is the policy an attempt to remove an excuse why an employee can't be in the office? Do they want the ability to call an employee…

How long does it take for landlords in the area to realize that there's an extra $500/mo to be had?

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#23

Post by [deleted] »

slg wrote: post #17
pkfrank wrote: post #3

The "Novel Ways:" 1) Housing stipend of $500/mo if employees live within a 10-minute walk of the office 2) A semi-annual retreat / hackathon where employees cook meals, hang out, bond, code, and present their projects 3) Plane ticket anywhere in the world that must be used between their 1 and 2-year anniversary at the company. I know of many companies that already do #1 and #2, but I suppose I haven't heard of this c…

The $500 per month housing stipend seems a little disingenuous. If the concern was truly about employees and rising real estate prices, why not raise wages by $6000 across the board? It isn't like real estate magically drops in value half a mile away or commuting longer distances is free. Is the policy an attempt to remove an excuse why an employee can't be in the office? Do they want the ability to call an employee…

[deleted]

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#24

Post by xauronx »

paulbaumgart wrote: post #18
admiraltbags wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interviewed with their lead front-end engineer for a front-end engineering position. Everything was great then he asked me for my "story". I answered as best I could but I guess it wasn't what he wanted to hear so he re-iterated that he wanted to know if he would like working with me. I think that's great thing to determine but was put-off by the question-- I got the feeling I would be working with a bit of a tool. H…

"in this type of culture its expected that you earn less" Serious question: is there any other for-profit industry where candidates wouldn't laugh in your face for saying something like this?

Personally, I am totally ok with this. If "start-up culture" means 20 days of PTO, free meals, free gym, a ton of other perks, I would care less about the year end dollar amount. Perhaps that's just me though.

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#25

Post by [deleted] »

slg wrote: post #17
pkfrank wrote: post #3

The "Novel Ways:" 1) Housing stipend of $500/mo if employees live within a 10-minute walk of the office 2) A semi-annual retreat / hackathon where employees cook meals, hang out, bond, code, and present their projects 3) Plane ticket anywhere in the world that must be used between their 1 and 2-year anniversary at the company. I know of many companies that already do #1 and #2, but I suppose I haven't heard of this c…

The $500 per month housing stipend seems a little disingenuous. If the concern was truly about employees and rising real estate prices, why not raise wages by $6000 across the board? It isn't like real estate magically drops in value half a mile away or commuting longer distances is free. Is the policy an attempt to remove an excuse why an employee can't be in the office? Do they want the ability to call an employee…

[deleted]

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#26

Post by robotresearcher »

slg wrote: post #17
pkfrank wrote: post #3

The "Novel Ways:" 1) Housing stipend of $500/mo if employees live within a 10-minute walk of the office 2) A semi-annual retreat / hackathon where employees cook meals, hang out, bond, code, and present their projects 3) Plane ticket anywhere in the world that must be used between their 1 and 2-year anniversary at the company. I know of many companies that already do #1 and #2, but I suppose I haven't heard of this c…

The $500 per month housing stipend seems a little disingenuous. If the concern was truly about employees and rising real estate prices, why not raise wages by $6000 across the board? It isn't like real estate magically drops in value half a mile away or commuting longer distances is free. Is the policy an attempt to remove an excuse why an employee can't be in the office? Do they want the ability to call an employee…

In a non-cynical mode:

1) turns your employees into neighbours

2) reduces wasted commute time

3) increases exercise compared to drivers (10 mins is better than nothing (edit: twice a day!)) thus reducing medical costs

4) reduces absenteeism due to dental appointments, kid concerts, etc that tend to be near home. Improves family life.

5) reduces the carbon footprint of the business

6) reduces the car-related absenteeism: breakdowns, maintenance appointments, even injuries and deaths.

Increasing salaries would do none of these things.

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#27

Post by xauronx »

nathan_f77 wrote: post #4

ZenPayroll is hiring: https://zenpayroll.com/careers I'm a software engineer at ZenPayroll, and it's truly an awesome place to work. The founders and team have taken great care to build an amazing company culture, and I'm really excited to see us grow over the next few years.

How elitist is the hiring process? I'm always really hesitant to apply to places like that. I'm consistently one of the best developers at my job, I'm really good at getting shit done, and have a ton of faith in my ability. However, as soon as I think about applying at a "trendy" start up, I envision someone grilling me for hours to hand write sorting algorithms on a white board. I have no interest in that, and I feel that it has very little bearing on how good someone is at software development.

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#28

Post by afterburner »

paulbaumgart wrote: post #18
admiraltbags wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interviewed with their lead front-end engineer for a front-end engineering position. Everything was great then he asked me for my "story". I answered as best I could but I guess it wasn't what he wanted to hear so he re-iterated that he wanted to know if he would like working with me. I think that's great thing to determine but was put-off by the question-- I got the feeling I would be working with a bit of a tool. H…

"in this type of culture its expected that you earn less" Serious question: is there any other for-profit industry where candidates wouldn't laugh in your face for saying something like this?

Some parts of aerospace, specifically the higher profile projects where people will feel like they have bragging rights for working there. Also, maybe the game industry? Basically any industry where people people are dying to be on the inside, despite what the job may entail or their long term prospects.

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#29

Post by nerfhammer »

jhvh1134 wrote: post #16
sokoloff wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is using that phrase in the sense of his (perceived) responsibility to his employees, which is undoubtedly stronger than his responsibility to the overall city.

Other than obeying the law and paying taxes, he has no responsibility to the city. Why has it become so fashionable to project obligation onto others? The guy is creating 20+ jobs this year, what more would he need to do to fulfill this "responsibility to the overall city?"

When you've already hobbled the market mechanism on the seller side the only thing that seems to make sense is to try to browbeat the amorphous tide of the demand side, i.e. shouting at the ocean.

Re: San Francisco Startup ZenPayroll Raises $20M, Finds Novel Ways to Lure Workers

#30

Post by NDizzle »

slg wrote: post #17
pkfrank wrote: post #3

The "Novel Ways:" 1) Housing stipend of $500/mo if employees live within a 10-minute walk of the office 2) A semi-annual retreat / hackathon where employees cook meals, hang out, bond, code, and present their projects 3) Plane ticket anywhere in the world that must be used between their 1 and 2-year anniversary at the company. I know of many companies that already do #1 and #2, but I suppose I haven't heard of this c…

The $500 per month housing stipend seems a little disingenuous. If the concern was truly about employees and rising real estate prices, why not raise wages by $6000 across the board? It isn't like real estate magically drops in value half a mile away or commuting longer distances is free. Is the policy an attempt to remove an excuse why an employee can't be in the office? Do they want the ability to call an employee…

If they wanted people closer to the office it would have made so much more sense to NOT be in SF itself. $500 doesn't go very far in that neighborhood. That's roughly a walk in closet.
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