Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
businessinsider.com
Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
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Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#2They gave up some money to reward valuable employees. That's not, per se, being magnanimous or generous, it's being smart businessmen. All of these founders made out just fine, financially. When they start their next big thing, they'll be remembered not only as the guys who had a successful exit, they'll be remembered as the guys took care of their people along the way. That's about the smartest way to recruit top talent you can come up with.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#3It's sad that this behavior is unusual enough to be noteworthy.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#4It's sad that this behavior is unusual enough to be noteworthy.
This comment reads as entitled to me. Startup founders have an insane number of things on their plate, and that list just keeps growing and growing. Startup employees work hard, but the founders still bear most of the risk and responsibility.
What really needs to happen is for new ways to organize startups to distribute the risks and responsibilities better, so that it's not up to the goodness of the founder's heart to ensure a good outcome for the employees.
Of course, this implies that the pie is being made bigger, the risks and responsibilities being spread out are actually building more value in the company so as to generate a bigger exit. So far though founder-level discipline and risk-taking is rare enough in one individual that this is the situation we have to deal with.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#5They gave up some money to reward valuable employees. That's not, per se , being magnanimous or generous, it's being smart businessmen. All of these founders made out just fine, financially. When they start their next big thing, they'll be remembered not only as the guys who had a successful exit, they'll be remembered as the guys took care of their people along the way. That's about the smartest way to recruit top t…
I don't think you are giving these founders enough credit. Startup acquisitions, not unlike fundraising, can be very emotional. Acquirers can go from hot to cold very quickly if they hear the wrong thing or get the wrong vibe. The founders went to great lengths to structure the deal in a way that compensated their employees like this. It's likely that they put the entire deal at risk to do so. That, in my mind, strongly shows generosity on the part of the founder.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#6It's sad that this behavior is unusual enough to be noteworthy.
This comment reads as entitled to me. Startup founders have an insane number of things on their plate, and that list just keeps growing and growing. Startup employees work hard, but the founders still bear most of the risk and responsibility. What really needs to happen is for new ways to organize startups to distribute the risks and responsibilities better, so that it's not up to the goodness of the founder's heart…
And great employees can always go to {google, fb, twitter, microsoft, salesforce, etc} and get paid $250-$300 / year in cash or cash equivalents, instead of $125-$150 plus lottery tickets.
In fact, I remember reading that round A is the worse time for an employee to join a startup: the large grants are gone, but the business isn't derisked, so your lottery tickets still have shit ev.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
This comment reads as entitled to me. Startup founders have an insane number of things on their plate, and that list just keeps growing and growing. Startup employees work hard, but the founders still bear most of the risk and responsibility. What really needs to happen is for new ways to organize startups to distribute the risks and responsibilities better, so that it's not up to the goodness of the founder's heart…
And great employees can always go to {google, fb, twitter, microsoft, salesforce, etc} and get paid $250-$300 / year in cash or cash equivalents, instead of $125-$150 plus lottery tickets. In fact, I remember reading that round A is the worse time for an employee to join a startup: the large grants are gone, but the business isn't derisked, so your lottery tickets still have shit ev.
Is the going rate $250-$300k these days?
Honestly, though - beyond just larger equity grants, I'd like to see companies have people get rewarded when the company does well... Through some kind of bonus (in equity or cash).
It seems like most companies either have bonuses that are pretty much an expected part of salary, or they have no bonus in any situation. I've only really been part of the latter, though.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#8The article says:
> There’s a startup in New York everyone talks about, and the things they say aren't very nice. The startup sold for ~ $80 million and the founders got rich. But, as the rumors go, no other employee made more than $50,000.
Does anyone know which startup they are referring to? carrentals.com? something else?
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#9Do employee stock options usually not vest automatically upon acquisition? The SinglePlatform story made it sound like employees get screwed if there's an early exit before their options had fully vested.
Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires
#10It's sad that this behavior is unusual enough to be noteworthy.
This comment reads as entitled to me. Startup founders have an insane number of things on their plate, and that list just keeps growing and growing. Startup employees work hard, but the founders still bear most of the risk and responsibility. What really needs to happen is for new ways to organize startups to distribute the risks and responsibilities better, so that it's not up to the goodness of the founder's heart…
> Startup employees work hard, but the founders still bear most of the risk and responsibility.
As much as I am a fan of startups and their founders, this statement seems excessive. In many cases, the financial risks are passed on to either angel investors or VCs (there are some startups funded by the founders' own savings or mortgages, which is a big risk, but there are still many that aren't). I don't see any significant negative consequences to the founders if a startup fails (they're not risking personal injury, bankruptcy, a lifetime of debt or anything else as severe).