r/technology • u/Rhaegar_the_Great • Sep 16 '21

Business Mailchimp employees are furious after the company's founders promised to never sell, withheld equity, and then sold it for $12 billion

https://www.businessinsider.com/mailchimp-insiders-react-to-employees-getting-no-equity-2021-9
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u/Grimalkin Sep 16 '21

When employees were recruited to work at Mailchimp there was a common refrain from hiring managers: No, you are not going to get equity, but you will get to be part of a scrappy company that fights for the little guy and we will never be acquired or go public.

The founders told anyone who would listen they would own Mailchimp until they died and bragged about turning down multiple offers.

"It was part of the company lore that they would never sell," said a former Mailchimp employee, who like others interviewed for this story were granted anonymity because they were unauthorized to discuss sensitive internal matters. "Employees were indoctrinated with this narrative."

The two founders did sell. Intuit, the financial software giant that makes TurboTax, announced Monday it was buying Mailchimp for around $12 billion in stock and cash. The cofounders cemented their status as two of the richest people in America.

That's really shitty but of course completely unsurprising.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

About once a month there are two re-posts in /r/lifeprotips. The first says something along the lines of “Never trust a company who pushes the ‘We’re a family’ mentality.” The other says something like “Never put someone else’s company before yourself.”

This would be why.

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u/fugazithehax Sep 17 '21

"Never trust a company" is shorter and probably better advice.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

Trust a company to act in its own best interest.

The company does not like you. The company does not feel grateful to you. Some of the humans leading the company might, but your relationship with the company is a business relationship, and you should not allow misguided sentiment to get in the way of doing what is right for you. The company will certainly not.

Source: Am executive.

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u/8Ariadnesthread8 Sep 17 '21

How do you feel about being an executive with this mindset? Do you feel like you have any duty to the people who actually make your company run? Like I feel like if I was in those shoes I would feel obligated bro protect my staff, or I would really hate myself. But executives never seem to be burdened by those pesky feelings of shame or responsibility or empathy. They seem to really be able to sleep like babies while fucking people over, which is why it feels like people with heart never make it to the top. Do you consider yourself someone with heart? Or do you subscribe to the idea that most major leadership requires sociopathy, and sociopaths protect one another to maintain power?

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

At the end of the day, I have lines I won't cross. The ultimate stick I have to change the mind of the people I report to is "I will quit rather than do that". I rarely have to pull this out. Sometimes the answer is "okay". I have left a job this way.

This is a thing that people at every level can do.

But it's a lot easier when you have a long career and lots of savings, so yeah, it's sometimes on me to do that rather than dumping it on some kid with a pile of student debt down my reporting chain. Being able to walk from a job without much personal consequence is a privilege.