Apollo Layoffs
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Apollo Layoffs
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Re: Apollo Layoffs
#2[deleted]
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#3> I am very sad to make this decision. It’s a consequence of the approach that Matt and I took in scaling the company over the last year, and we take full responsibility for the impact that will have on the lives of our departing team members.
Why do CEO's always say this empty nonsense. If you accept responsibility, you accept consequences - what consequences is Geoff Schmidt going to be facing? Hurt feelings? Give me a break.
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#4> Thanks to an incredible performance by our Talent Acquisition team, one of the best in the industry, we grew headcount 2.5x in about a year. But the problem is that growing the company 2.5x didn’t make us 2.5x more productive. It got harder to get things done because we didn’t add the right mix of skills and seniority levels to our team.
From The Mythical Man-Month: "If there are n workers on a project, there are (n^2 - n) / 2 interfaces across which there may be communication... The purpose of organization is to reduce the amount of of communication and coordination necessary". I doubt anybody would ever expect adding large numbers of employees to have a linear effect on productivity, especially if they aren't well coordinated. More people usually means more meetings and more communications costs, as well as more bureaucracy in the way. I find it hard to believe that a leader in software would expect otherwise.
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#5Why are software companies still grappling with the mythical man month? You'd think by now we'd have learned our lesson.
More hands /= more productivity, at least on a linear scale
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#6> I am very sad to make this decision. It’s a consequence of the approach that Matt and I took in scaling the company over the last year, and we take full responsibility for the impact that will have on the lives of our departing team members. Why do CEO's always say this empty nonsense. If you accept responsibility, you accept consequences - what consequences is Geoff Schmidt going to be facing? Hurt feelings? Give…
What would you prefer that they say instead? "I made no wrong decisions, I have no regrets leaving all of you unemployed."?
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#7> I am very sad to make this decision. It’s a consequence of the approach that Matt and I took in scaling the company over the last year, and we take full responsibility for the impact that will have on the lives of our departing team members. Why do CEO's always say this empty nonsense. If you accept responsibility, you accept consequences - what consequences is Geoff Schmidt going to be facing? Hurt feelings? Give…
What would you prefer that they say instead? "I made no wrong decisions, I have no regrets leaving all of you unemployed."?
"I'll be resigning when [the board/leadership] finds a replacement."
I always get massive push back when I suggest this, but it's the only remedy that makes sense. If you have to layoff 15% of the workforce when the growth was under your command, and you want to take responsibility, then step down. Own your mistake.
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#8Layoffs are going to suck regardless, but this is one of the best severance packages I've seen in this wave:
* 15 weeks base pay + 1 week per year of employment
* 6 months COBRA + $300 mental health
* no 1-yr cliff, options can be exercised thru next year
* you can keep all your equipment
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#9> I am very sad to make this decision. It’s a consequence of the approach that Matt and I took in scaling the company over the last year, and we take full responsibility for the impact that will have on the lives of our departing team members. Why do CEO's always say this empty nonsense. If you accept responsibility, you accept consequences - what consequences is Geoff Schmidt going to be facing? Hurt feelings? Give…
It is humblebragging and getting ahead of rumors. "We are growing strongly, but" followed by the usual platitudes about funding, taking ownership without consequences by leadership, and showing how great the severance is. There is no good reason this should be a public communication.
Re: Apollo Layoffs
#10> I am very sad to make this decision. It’s a consequence of the approach that Matt and I took in scaling the company over the last year, and we take full responsibility for the impact that will have on the lives of our departing team members. Why do CEO's always say this empty nonsense. If you accept responsibility, you accept consequences - what consequences is Geoff Schmidt going to be facing? Hurt feelings? Give…
> what consequences is Geoff Schmidt going to be facing?
Loss in confidence of his employees, fear of mass exodus, pressure from stakeholders, etc...
I don't usually defend CEO's, and it sounds like this one has committed some pretty serious errors, but I certainly would not want to be sending that email out.