Attention Jason Calacanis: Scott and Gordon Didn't Get the Memo

Up front, I'll tell you I am not a fan of all this public stuff with respect to Armageddon, Nuclear Winter, etc.  I find all these so-called leaks of presentations regarding what this VC or that VC said to the portfolio companies as wasteful pontification from the mountain.  Cut expenses, gee, shockingly good advice.

The VCs that are really stepping up and actually adding some value are diving one on one into companies and working through what can be done with respect to moving the company forward. Brad Feld said it best in a prior blog post:  Step up. Step up, put your shoulder into it, let's figure it out, and get it over the finish line.   I know for fact that while power points were being build in some places and memos were being prepared to be leaked in others, Brad and a whole bunch of guys like him, were actually at their companies and helping with the stepping up. Actually helping with customer calls. Actually writing code, doing some product management, etc, etc. 

"Leaked" Power point deck. "Leaked" Memos. Right.

I'll say what many of those portfolio CEO's were thinking:  Gee, thanks. Uh, could you move the Porsche so I can get my Pinto out of the parking space.

Okay, end of that rant. 

Jason Calacanis is a guy I have met/interacted with a few times over my life. We've shared a late night pizza at Reboot and I've gotten to spend time and hear 'off camera' Jason. This has happened a couple of times.  Nice guy, good person. I just put that out there so you know my affiliation (or lack thereof).

As 96.7% of you know, Jason reduced the headcount at Mahalo.  Jason blogged it and sent out his  "How to Handle Layoffs" memo to his email list. 

[See Mathew Ingram's post for back story on Mahalo, the Jason on/off blog, DMCA firefights, etc.]

I thought Jason's blog post was ok. Laying people off blows. To his credit he nailed it when he laid the blame where it should be; right at his own feet.

"It's my responsibility to make this hard decision, and I don't take it lightly. To the people impacted, I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to anticipate this better. It's my fault and I'm sorry that you've got to bear the burden of my inability to better prepare."

One of the many good points Jason made in the email missive was this:

"Don't lay people off one at a time, do it as a group. When I did layoffs at Silicon Alley Reporter the first time, I brought people in one at a time thinking it would be more humane. I thought I'd give folks more one-on-one time. The result was that folks were waiting at their desks and talking to people on IM the whole time waiting for their call to come into my office. It's best to ask all the affected people--and the folks not affected--to come into the room at the same time. Explain what's happening--that you're having layoffs or reorganizing--and let the folks who are not affected leave."

Jason sits on the board of ThisNext a social shopping site. That company conducted a layoff which, I assume, had the Board's knowledge/approval.

According to Jennifer who was impacted:

"Fcuking Tuesdays.

Yesterday our CEO called a lunch meeting... we haven't had one in about 6 weeks. There was obviously about to be a big layoff... We'd be called in one-by-one, department-by-department to let each of us know our status... Immediate mass exodus from the office followed, with everyone huddled in various places and talking about who they think is going to go... probably one of the most stressful experiences I've ever been through. Layoffs are awful but going about it this way made it extra awful... For the rest of the afternoon... IM'd each other... figured out that when someone walked out with an orange envelope..."

I know approximately zero about ThisNext and even less about the CEO except he didn't get Jason's memo. The co-founder and executive chairman, a former Silicon Alley reporter, well, he missed Jason's memo as well I guess.

I'll leave it to you to read Jennifer's entire post; read Jason's layoff handbook and figure out what does and doesn't work as I have other points to make.

Unfortunately, Jason chose to do all this laudable public posting/email list stuff before making sure people in his immediate circle of influence first got the message. Doing that board value-add thing by preventing somebody from diving into a flaming pit of insensitivity and human spirit destruction would have seemed to be appropriate.

Typically, the board will pat the CEO on the shoulder and tell them to buck up, good job, tough calls, carry on.  Maybe in cases like this, a WTF were you thinking combined with points off around bonus time is in order.

This constant, always on, always connected, gotta get it out there, etc, etc, creates situations where laser focus on the list of things that truly do matter get screwed up.   In my opinion, paying more attention to internal/private/up close and personal stuff versus pounding out emails/blog posts no matter how pure the intent was, might have saved Jennifer and the others at ThisNext some stress since the co-founder and CEO appeared to have needed the memo.

Jennifer, I'm sorry this happened to you.

Comments

[Larry]

I have to agree whole heartedly. I was in Jennifer's position 5 months ago. I was one of the first told on the day. I skipped out laughing because at least the pressure was off. Following up with some former co-workers later in the week, they were in shell shock all week waiting for their bomb to go off. The disruption to productivity is one cost that never appears on the balance sheet.

And the difference between Jason and Brad is one reason why I walk away from a good deal to join Brad's company. Good people attract good people, posers eventually have the curtain pulled back to reveal the little man.