351–360 of 564 posts
The founder also encouraged employees to take on what was effectively personal debt at an ~11B valuation when they only did $5.2M in Q1…
> There IS risk to the employee; they now have a real loan outstanding and 100% personal recourse, so if the common stock becomes less than exercise price, their personal assets are on the hook https://twitter.com/theryanking/status/1493390184897032201 HOLY CRAP. How is this even legal???
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>HOLY CRAP. How is this even legal??? You missed the tweet directly under it: > Therefore, we made sure to give every employee ample time to read about the pros and cons of this decision, including learning about all the risks in the business, and we gave every employee a $300 stipend to consult a financial advisor during the implementation process. I understand making things illegal to protect people from being swin…
$300 won't cover the cost for a qualified advisor. Even if you'd get a tax professional to make the math for you for that money (the one I use charges $350 for a phone call, ymmv), getting a lawyer to go over the terms of the loan would be $1000 at minimum.
Rumors going around on blind (posted by bolt employees) that over the course of a few rounds of layoffs it will be 30-50% of the total workforce. A lot of the initial layoff are software engineers. Apparently they only have 12-18 months of runway, and need to effectively double that. Current revenue is 40M. I guess this is the beginning of the tech washout. clings to large tech company job EDIT: 33% layoff today
...and yet apparently significantly more revenue per employee than Bolt. Oh, and we were profitable, infinite runway, good growth, solid unit economics, LTVs we understood.
Imagine!
I just accepted an offer (contract is signed) 1 month ago. I guess I need to start again looking for a job.
You should still continue looking since you don't know what you'll be getting into.
If they do rescind the offer, since they'd be screwing you pretty hard, I'd ask for pay and health insurance until you find your next job, but also ask them to connect you with other companies their VCs have invested in. Feel free to ask even if they don't offer.
If they offer severance, feel free to ask for more.
IANAL, but I doubt you'd have much legal recourse. California is a right-to-work state. Public shaming is always an option, but that can be personally and professionally expensive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There IS risk to the employee; they now have a real loan outstanding and 100% personal recourse, so if the common stock becomes less than exercise price, their personal assets are on the hook https://twitter.com/theryanking/status/1493390184897032201 HOLY CRAP. How is this even legal???
"Don't spend real money on fake money." Good advice I got from colleagues at a 2000 era company who took out loans to buy their options and cover the taxes when the stock was at $50/share and then watched it drop to <$1/share while they were in a lockout window. I worked with people who had 6 figure loans they owed on for worthless stock. Took years for the stock to recover.
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Sell them to who? Are there any secondary market sites still running. Otherwise, you're cold calling investors. I tried to sell my shares in a startup to cover my six figure tax bill and couldn't find a buyer even with the company's CFO helping me.
The OP I was responding to was clearly talking about a publicly traded company - "the stock was at $50/share" and "Took years for the stock to recover." They could sell them to anyone who wanted to buy them and clearly people did if it was going up. To answer your question, yes there are still companies that facilitate the secondary market for pre-IPO options, Forge/Sharespost is the one that immediately comes to min…
> This is one of the hardest messages I’ve ever had to send. Layoffs are something of a fact of life but, seriously, executives need to stop saying things like this when they announce them. Nobody gives a damn how company leaders feel in these situations, least of all the people receiving the message - nor should they.
I remember reading a blog post about how to do lay offs once. I can’t find it anymore but it was essentially don’t make it about yourself. It leaves a bitter taste in their mouth. Wish I could find it.
For those who’ve seen layoffs first hand: do lower performers generally get laid off first, or is it more random?
It's definitely not random, but it's not perfectly ordered according to merit/performance either. Some times entire departments are laid off if their projects are part of the cuts. You can be the best performer and still get laid off if you're in the wrong department. Some times companies will identify key employees and ask them to "re-apply" for other positions at the company in other departments. More often, cuts a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>HOLY CRAP. How is this even legal??? You missed the tweet directly under it: > Therefore, we made sure to give every employee ample time to read about the pros and cons of this decision, including learning about all the risks in the business, and we gave every employee a $300 stipend to consult a financial advisor during the implementation process. I understand making things illegal to protect people from being swin…
$300 won't cover the cost for a qualified advisor. Even if you'd get a tax professional to make the math for you for that money (the one I use charges $350 for a phone call, ymmv), getting a lawyer to go over the terms of the loan would be $1000 at minimum.