Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce • Hacker News Board

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#351

Post by dehrmann » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:07 PM UTC

tempsy wrote: post #149

nscalf wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s also no lack of buyers for stripe on secondary markets.

whether you can sell on secondary markets is restricted by the company. pretty sure Stripe has not let most employees sell on secondary markets. personally have not seen them solicited on Forge or EquityZen myself.

A fun question to ask when interviewing at a startup is to what extent they block or facilitate employee share sales/transfers. Also check with private markets to see what their experience with that company is.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#352

Post by RestlessMind » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:08 PM UTC

wnolens wrote: post #115

pmoriarty wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are rarely if ever any serious consequences to top execs screwing up wealthy companies. Such execs are usually already so wealthy that they never have to work another day in their life, no matter what happens or how much they screw up. They can always find other prestigious, high paid jobs, and sometimes even get rewarded with huge amounts of money from the very companies they screwed over.

> sometimes even get rewarded with huge amounts of money from the very companies they screwed over. This is the norm I've witnessed. They're rewarded for making bold bets, whether or not they pay off.

Isn't that how things should be in a society? We should encourage people to make bold bets and start real companies like Stripe which offer valuable services. I am happy that they made a bold bet, just like I am happy people start companies when they can easily join an established company and have a comfortable life.

Just to be sure, there is a big difference between a bold bet based on your market or product insights vs putting everything on black on the roulette table.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#353

Post by hintymad » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:09 PM UTC

eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

I thought "fully responsible" means that the decisions were theirs and came from them. It was not from some other executives, nor from their investors or their board of directors. If there's any consequence from the layoff, the consequence will be on them. Given that layoff is not necessarily evil as many perceive, their claim of taking full responsibility seems fair.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#354

Post by bombcar » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:09 PM UTC

antihero wrote: post #177

imnotreallynew wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Goodness, I’d voluntarily take that deal anyday. 3.5 months of paid vacation at the salaries Stripe pays? Yes please. I just read the rest. On top of 3.5 months pay, they get accelerated vesting, cash payment for healthcare benefits, all unused PTO paid, and more. That’s incredible.

Isn’t it mandatory to pay holiday accrued? Because it’s been, well, accrued…

It depends and some places go to "unlimited" for this reason, or combine sick and PTO and other stuff.

The smart businesses would just actually bank the dollar amounts and not worry about it, but those are rare.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#355

Post by RestlessMind » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

pmoriarty wrote: post #75

eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

There are rarely if ever any serious consequences to top execs screwing up wealthy companies. Such execs are usually already so wealthy that they never have to work another day in their life, no matter what happens or how much they screw up. They can always find other prestigious, high paid jobs, and sometimes even get rewarded with huge amounts of money from the very companies they screwed over.

> There are rarely if ever any serious consequences to top execs screwing up wealthy companies.

That is because any exec worth her salt would negotiate a generous golden parachute even before starting the job. And why is she able to do that? Because there are very few competent candidates available in the market. If you think the job is easy, just go and get one of those exec positions and you will learn.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#356

Post by cashsterling » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

memish wrote: post #90

eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

I want to say the same thing... this is a very generous severance package.

At one startup... I got called into the HR office on Monday morning, laid off with no advanced notice, and was only offered two weeks severance provided I signed a non-disclosure agreement that banned me from saying anything negative about the company for two years (and there was a lot I could've said).

That company also lied big time about their financials to get me to join in first place. So I learned some valuable life-lessons...

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#357

Post by bombcar » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:11 PM UTC

chasd00 wrote: post #204

memish wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

if you walk out on Friday and start a new job on Monday does the severance still apply? This setup is incredibly generous in my mind to the point where there's a lot of incentive to get laid off. If you got another job in a couple days and severance was still paid by Stripe then that+PTO+RSU+typical signing bonus is one hell of a payday.

Severance is usually one large lump sum, but I suppose you could set it up that paychecks keep coming even though you're no longer at work. Depends how they set it up.

But either way, they should still come even if you get hired immediately (except I guess hired back at Stripe).

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#358

Post by hinkley » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:12 PM UTC

throwaway9191aa wrote: post #262

scarface74 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I hate about the internet rage machine. No research was done by people automatically assuming that the company was just going to send the employees packing with “thoughts and prayers”. That’s very generous severance and the company doing right by its employees. I don’t know how long the process is for non US citizens. But in my over 25 year career, and changing jobs eight times as a software developer, i…

I had "trouble" finding work over the summer. But the actual details are that I was asking for $275k and $300k at two companies. Both gave me a verbal offers, but hiring froze. The third company, gasp, wanted me to come into their office (20 minutes down the street). I also lived through 2001 and 2008. I think the last 12 years of perpetual growth have created some amazing expectations from people. I can only hope th…

I have some health issues that started in the 2008 recession. So every time they flare up I think about that trauma.

I kept my job through that but it was a very head-down situation. Just put up with this shit until the market recovers. Then the company had a good year and so a bunch of us stayed to get the bonus. So February 2010 saw nine of us who had quit in 8 weeks, sitting in a bar celebrating our exodus. I asked if it was worth it (staying for the bonus).

One person said yes. Another said maybe. Seven people regretted staying. The bonus amounted to less than 20% of salary and we were under market at the time.

We used to have coffee and discuss how much we hated our boss Mike (not a pseudonym. Fuck you Mike, you brown nosing ladder climber). My peer called our favorite table the Conspiracy Table.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#359

Post by gizmo » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:12 PM UTC

l33t233372 wrote: post #303

gizmo wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why act like the founders have to grovel and beg for forgiveness? They don't. If they had been extra cautious during covid in expectation for the economy to take a dive would stripe be in a better position today? Absolutely not.

And even still, why act like taking responsibility is the same as taking a punishment?

They are taking responsibility by admitting their strategic error. That's enough. They have not performed poorly as executives they are not going to punish themselves in the manner proposed by OP.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#360

Post by floren » Thu, Nov 03, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

czbond wrote: post #147

eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

Ya know.... Founders and CEO's are responsible every day. They created the business for people to have jobs, they have to deal with it when the business cannot support the jobs. When things in the macro economy change, sometimes the business can't operate at the same level it was before. People like to on CEO's & leaders in good times, but employees often forget that while the employee can just go get another job, th…

I'm glad somebody is looking out for those poor Stripe founders!