A new team at Reddit • Hacker News Board

Re: A new team at Reddit

#231

Post by turnip1979 » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:23 PM UTC

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #101

paulhauggis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was being honest and I actually respect him more for putting a former employee that obviously was trying to get sympathy from the Reddit community, in his place.

No this is not something to respect someone for. This is unprofessional and a liability; if anything Yishan said wasn't documented and documented really well the OP has a libel case. It doesn't even matter how true it was. He also publicly spoke out about someone's work ethic and performance of which we're only getting one side of the story anyway. If his real name is associated with his reddit profile then future em…

Total outsider and I felt very uncomfortable how the dirty laundry was being aired publicly. I don't get this new model of business in the Bay area. One person posts stuff online. Then someone posts something online as a rebuttal. Don't these people realize stuff online stays with you forever and has consequences? Heck .. I change accounts every little while on HN (losing all my precious karma) to make sure I don't mess up in some way.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#232

Post by hiou » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:23 PM UTC

asaramis wrote: post #228

sama wrote: post #85

I realize that this sounds non-credible (and it's certainly one of the craziest professional things I've ever been a part of), but it's actually what happened. Yishan wanted to move the office from SF to Daly City. The board pushed back but said we'd agree to it with certain data (we wanted Yishan to figure out how many employees would stay with the company through the move, get a comparison to other market rents, et…

Ellen Pao. Harvard Law, Harvard MBA, time at Cravath (very, very fancy law firm) and partner at Kleiner (which I imagine most of us know) is now to be the head of Reddit? I am a firm believer that most media out there is not extracting enough value from their audience, or "under-monetizing", to use a ridiculous term. However, Reddit truly is different. I simply can't imagine someone with Ellen's professional upbringi…

> Ellen Pao will be stepping up to be interim CEO

> Alexis Ohanian, who cofounded reddit nine and a half years ago, is returning as full-time executive chairman (he will transition to a part-time partner role at Y Combinator)

> There is a long history of founders returning to companies and doing great things.

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about Ellen Pao leading reddit in the long term.

Also from today's reddit blog post[0] by Alexis

> Instead, I joined the board and have done everything I can to not be a helicopter parent, but rather support reddit and all the amazing people who make it work as best I can. But reddit is and will always be my baby

Re: A new team at Reddit

#233

Post by Iftheshoefits » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:24 PM UTC

gojomo wrote: post #200

ryanSrich wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have anything to support your claim that top talent prefers SF? Just curious.

Someone's paying the sky-high residential rents; it sure seems like it's top-compensated tech workers. See also: Google, Apple, Facebook, et al running comfy buses for SF residents to their distant HQs. And now the Reddit board is another data point. They didn't trust their CEO's call, unless they got more proof about employee retention after choosing a non-SF location.

The top talent you describe is highly unlikely to take what is almost certainly an inferior compensation package at Reddit as compared with places their talents will be better recognized (financially), if compensation sufficient to rent in S.F. is a concern for them.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#234

Post by ryandrake » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:26 PM UTC

kenrikm wrote: post #156

calimac wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moving an office like this scenario and timeline can and in most cases, does cause tectonic shift in the company's dynamic. There's a ripple effect through far reaching aspects of the employees lives that effect there work. On another note- Office location can be the most personal aspect of business to an exec processing the decision. A territorial undercurrent is in play.

In my experience you always loose employees when moving offices. It's a really weird feeling just after the move and takes a while to get back into the grove.

Last place I worked, we moved just a few blocks away, from a really, really awful crappy warehouse in Sunnyvale to a pretty spiffy new facility also in Sunnyvale. I don't think we lost anyone due to that move. So, lesson is to make sure your new office is awesome and not that geographically far from your old one?

Re: A new team at Reddit

#235

Post by ifindkarma » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:28 PM UTC

asaramis wrote: post #228

sama wrote: post #85

I realize that this sounds non-credible (and it's certainly one of the craziest professional things I've ever been a part of), but it's actually what happened. Yishan wanted to move the office from SF to Daly City. The board pushed back but said we'd agree to it with certain data (we wanted Yishan to figure out how many employees would stay with the company through the move, get a comparison to other market rents, et…

Ellen Pao. Harvard Law, Harvard MBA, time at Cravath (very, very fancy law firm) and partner at Kleiner (which I imagine most of us know) is now to be the head of Reddit? I am a firm believer that most media out there is not extracting enough value from their audience, or "under-monetizing", to use a ridiculous term. However, Reddit truly is different. I simply can't imagine someone with Ellen's professional upbringi…

Thanks for your rant.

I am hopeful for Reddit's future because of its community.

I've been using Reddit for over 8 years, through many transitions, and I still go to it everyday to read and interact with many friends I've met there.

I believe that everyone currently working on Reddit knows why it's great, and is interested in making it even better.

I believe in Reddit's team, and I believe in Reddit.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#236

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:29 PM UTC

kickme444 wrote: post #128

hiou wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want it to sound like you are being dishonest about this, and it's possible there were things going on in Yishan's head that you were not aware of, but "a new team at reddit" in 8 days makes it a bit hard to believe this came completely out of nowhere.

It has been a very busy 8 days.

[deleted]

Re: A new team at Reddit

#237

Post by udev » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:31 PM UTC

Man, the whole thing reeks!

The big guys invest in Reddit -> weeks later a wedge issue is found, CEO is isolated and out -> blog post to convince the masses that this is still the good old Reddit: 'Look! Ohanian is coming back!'.

The way this announcement desperately tries to water down the significance of the event, speaks chapters, IMO.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#238

Post by Eric_WVGG » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:31 PM UTC

anon808 wrote: post #166

sama wrote: post #85

I realize that this sounds non-credible (and it's certainly one of the craziest professional things I've ever been a part of), but it's actually what happened. Yishan wanted to move the office from SF to Daly City. The board pushed back but said we'd agree to it with certain data (we wanted Yishan to figure out how many employees would stay with the company through the move, get a comparison to other market rents, et…

Daly City is 9.7 miles from the reddit office, for all practical purposes it sounds like Yishan wanted to just move offices in the same city; the Daly City part doesn't seem like it's important. Or am I missing something?

San Francisco attracts startups and talent because it's a cool, fun, sexy place to live. Bright young talent demands those sorts of conditions.

Daly City is a suburban hellhole. If “cities” like Daly were desirable places to live, Provo, Utah and Tacoma, WA would be IT meccas.

The traffic in that region guarantees an ungodly commute by car for anyone who wanted to stay in SF and drive to Daly for work (1 hour commute = $40k in pay worth in happiness http://www.npr.org/2011/10/19/141514467/small-changes-can-he...). The public transportation is… lacking.

I can’t speak for Yishan’s motivations, but if I were on the board, I would push for his replacement simply due to the talent attrition that would inevitably occur if he got his way.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#239

Post by gojomo » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:33 PM UTC

Iftheshoefits wrote: post #233

gojomo wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone's paying the sky-high residential rents; it sure seems like it's top-compensated tech workers. See also: Google, Apple, Facebook, et al running comfy buses for SF residents to their distant HQs. And now the Reddit board is another data point. They didn't trust their CEO's call, unless they got more proof about employee retention after choosing a non-SF location.

The top talent you describe is highly unlikely to take what is almost certainly an inferior compensation package at Reddit as compared with places their talents will be better recognized (financially), if compensation sufficient to rent in S.F. is a concern for them.

Yes, SF is crazy expensive and it makes effective compensation smaller. Still knowing that, companies choose to locate here, companies send buses here to help hire San Franciscans, and Reddit's board feared that an HQ move to a neighboring city would lose employees. Those are all strong indicators that desired talent likes to be in SF.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#240

Post by prostoalex » Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 11:35 PM UTC

mcfunley wrote: post #83

minimaxir wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relevant context: https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_r... From the NYT: "That incident, according to people close to the company, made some of Reddit’s current employees uncomfortable."

That was a thoroughly classless move on his part. The reddit or HN community might eat that kind of thing up, but it's recruiting poison. Anyone contemplating taking a job at reddit would have to think twice about working for someone who would permanently and capriciously destroy the SEO of a former employee like that.

How would you handle somebody who, after being let go, would use a public forum to besmirch the previous employer? E.g., here he calls the company management "two-faced" https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_r...

Companies have to act and usually act quickly, handling a public issue privately, no matter how successfully, would leave a lingering impression of "Yahoo hires just about anyone with a fake diploma" or "Uber drivers beat up passengers with hammers as often as they please".