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San Francisco start-up Seesmic laid off 18 employees this week

41 points by velus 15y ago

deleted 15y ago
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Mystalic 15y ago
I wish Loic and his team the best of luck. It's never easy to lay friends and colleagues off, and I know that it's taken an emotional toll on Loic. This is a reminder that even somebody of Loic's stature (he created LeWeb and is a very successful angel investor) can fail. Hard work, great product, good timing and luck -- you need them all to succeed.
- markokocic 15y ago
  Why so much sympathy for Loic, and not for people being laid off? Loic will be fine. He didn't burn his own cash, he burned VC and angel money. And given that he already has success track record, his reputation will not be damaged too much. I hope those 18 guys were working for market salary, and not for some equity/options schema. Otherwise, it's 18 more people that learned the hard way that it doesn't pay taking risks and salary sacrifice if your are not the one that makes decisions, and will avoid working for startups in the future.
pagekalisedown 15y ago
I'm all for failing quickly and pivoting into something better, but how does Loic Le Meur expect to attract future employees with such a track record?
- jtchang 15y ago
  With promises of mounds of equity and hoards of cash? Startups are inherently risky. Loic made a very difficult decision (layoffs are hard). I am sure when he first hired those people it was in good faith. No one wants to fail.
shingen 15y ago
Start-up? Seesmic is five years old. They took $6 million in VC over four years ago. They're an established company, not a start-up.
farrel 15y ago
This is the 4th pivot for Seesmic? Can early investors ask for their money back if the nature of the business changes from what they originally invested in?
- TheCowboy 15y ago
  Nope. That's part of the risk assumed by investors. Plus "you can't get blood from a stone"---how much of that money exists that they could pull it out? And whose money is it exactly when you have multiple investors? At best they would only be entitled to a fraction of a fraction. It would also set a bad precedent for companies they've invested in if startsup are not allowed to adapt because they'd lose funding, making it more likely that investments fail due to stagnation.
- deleted 15y ago
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dhimes 15y ago
OT: Ghostery picked up 19 scripts on that page. I think that is a personal record, at least for HN links. Holy Fuck!

41 points by velus 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

I wish Loic and his team the best of luck. It's never easy to lay friends and colleagues off, and I know that it's taken an emotional toll on Loic. This is a reminder that even somebody of Loic's stature (he created LeWeb and is a very successful angel investor) can fail. Hard work, great product, good timing and luck -- you need them all to succeed.

markokocic 15y ago
Why so much sympathy for Loic, and not for people being laid off? Loic will be fine. He didn't burn his own cash, he burned VC and angel money. And given that he already has success track record, his reputation will not be damaged too much. I hope those 18 guys were working for market salary, and not for some equity/options schema. Otherwise, it's 18 more people that learned the hard way that it doesn't pay taking risks and salary sacrifice if your are not the one that makes decisions, and will avoid working for startups in the future.

pagekalisedown 15y ago

I'm all for failing quickly and pivoting into something better, but how does Loic Le Meur expect to attract future employees with such a track record?

jtchang 15y ago
With promises of mounds of equity and hoards of cash? Startups are inherently risky. Loic made a very difficult decision (layoffs are hard). I am sure when he first hired those people it was in good faith. No one wants to fail.

shingen 15y ago

Start-up? Seesmic is five years old. They took $6 million in VC over four years ago. They're an established company, not a start-up.

farrel 15y ago

This is the 4th pivot for Seesmic? Can early investors ask for their money back if the nature of the business changes from what they originally invested in?

TheCowboy 15y ago
Nope. That's part of the risk assumed by investors. Plus "you can't get blood from a stone"---how much of that money exists that they could pull it out? And whose money is it exactly when you have multiple investors? At best they would only be entitled to a fraction of a fraction. It would also set a bad precedent for companies they've invested in if startsup are not allowed to adapt because they'd lose funding, making it more likely that investments fail due to stagnation.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

dhimes 15y ago

OT: Ghostery picked up 19 scripts on that page. I think that is a personal record, at least for HN links. Holy Fuck!