Scumbag Zynga? Make money pressuring users to pay for virtual goods. Pressure employees to give stock for virtual jobs...
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Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
91–100 of 383 posts
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not quite, since it's unvested shares they're taking back. The company has promised to give those shares to the employees when they hit certain tenure milestones, but the company still owns them in the meantime. If they fire the employee, the company keeps those shares.
The fact that it is unvested shares changes little. The employees where lead to believe that if they meant a certain milestones they would receive stock. Now the milestones have been changed. The employees must now also meet new criteria for productivity to receive stock. They signed up for one deal and are now being served another.
Except the possibility always existed that they could get fired and not get that stock. The only thing that has changed is that Zynga is now saying that they're willing to fire you just so you don't get that stock.
Deeply unethical, and terrible for employee relations, and not at all in the interests of the company, but probably legal.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#93I'd take being fired, and then collect on the stock, if there is a chance of a 10k+ gain. Giving up stock worth a lot would be a really, really stupid thing to do when you can just get another job and get a hefty bonus for leaving.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#94I was given some advice recently by someone more senior than me: "in the Valley, equity nowadays is worthless. Show me the money!".
That's played itself out as true so many times it's basically become a rule. Equity means absolutely zero for most people - salary, vacation time, health benefits - these are now the selling points for companies in my eyes.
Stuff like this just proves that equity is way too unreliable unless you're a founder or exec. And Zynga runs a slave ship to boot.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#95With the unvested shares, the executives believed they could attract more top talent with the promise of stock.
Not if the new hires find out about this previous action, and realize that the company may very well demand the stock back.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#96Is it just me or is tech particularly sleazy right now?
Overhyped tech startups are sleazy.
There are lots of underhyped startups right now that are busy disrupting other areas like enterprise software.
Key is to look at who's funding whom and executive leadership... an organization's DNA goes from top-down.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you be willing to do an anonymous AMA, or write up some of your experiences?
I'll do a quick summary. Episode 1: (this is the one that most directly affected me) I was working on a very interesting but somewhat far-off technology. I did some tech talks about it, and put them on Google Video. Was approached by a guy who said he was a wealthy early-stage technology investor. He showed me a lot of stuff that indicated that this was the case, had a lot of real people vouching for him, etc. He mad…
> Do they actually teach this s--t in business school? What the hell? I had a friend when I was much younger who got into some shady stuff including drug trafficking, and he told me a lot of stories. None of them approached what I experienced in the "legitimate" business world.
I have to ponder that if one made a habit of screwing people over in the drug trafficking and/or shady business, the individual might end up with a shortened life expectancy.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#98With the unvested shares, the executives believed they could attract more top talent with the promise of stock. Not anymore they won't.
The new hires will just need 'no takebacks' written into their contracts.
Never sign a contract with someone for whom you think a contract is necessary.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you be willing to do an anonymous AMA, or write up some of your experiences?
I'll do a quick summary. Episode 1: (this is the one that most directly affected me) I was working on a very interesting but somewhat far-off technology. I did some tech talks about it, and put them on Google Video. Was approached by a guy who said he was a wealthy early-stage technology investor. He showed me a lot of stuff that indicated that this was the case, had a lot of real people vouching for him, etc. He mad…
The business school process that I've been a part of focuses on case studies that basically boil monumental business processes down to a few paragraphs. As a result, the human factor of business gets reduced to commodity (ie: genius entrepreneur X found an unnamed technical producer, lined up a few sales with unnamed companies and started the process. 3 years later he sold the company). This process comes across as fly-by-night dealmaking when in reality, the process was likely long and relationship driven. That's why you often seen scammy behavior.
So, to answer your question, we aren' taught to do anything illegal, but the manner in which we are taught encourages hustle at any cost and treating people as a commodity.
Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you be willing to do an anonymous AMA, or write up some of your experiences?
I'll do a quick summary. Episode 1: (this is the one that most directly affected me) I was working on a very interesting but somewhat far-off technology. I did some tech talks about it, and put them on Google Video. Was approached by a guy who said he was a wealthy early-stage technology investor. He showed me a lot of stuff that indicated that this was the case, had a lot of real people vouching for him, etc. He mad…
Yep this stuff is a dime a dozen and is a big reason why someone with just an idea is not taken seriously by technical people, those of us who have been around for a while have seen it all. Half want something for nothing and want to take it and run if you actually produce it and screw you out of any profit from your work, history is littered with tech guys getting screwed by idea men / con artist. It's almost like it is a game to them, to see if they really can screw you out of every penny and steal your work. They loose in their mind if you get one red cent.