Freshworks CEO salary cut 😂

The company had more than 6 layoffs in the past 10 months. Right from office boys to the company COO was affected by the layoff. The recent layoff happened 10 days back, where the company didn't pay their employees a single dime and instead gave them their value less esops to keep their mouth shut. The company is being run by 2 arrogant adamant co-founders along with their 10 other close ally so called the CORE team. The employees were on 30% salary cut since 10 months in the name of deffered and were promised that everyone would get it back with 8% interest on the cut. In every layoff employees were asked to leave within a day or two without even paying them for their notice period. Nobody was vocal about it as the founders had threatened some ex employees that they would make their life miserable and they will find it difficult to get jobs anywhere in future.

What changed for you post acquisition and how did it change your lives Context: worked at a small startup getting acquired soon by a publicly listed company

I got a offer where i will get the equity. Does people really make money when company get sold considering in my case if i get 1% equity. Also how does it work? Suppose when we start valuation of the company is 1 cr so my part will be 1L. Now in the next round suppose the valuation is 10cr then does it increase my equity to 10L or it dilute my % of equity? Suppose if the company is sold at 100cr, do i really get 1 cr? Kindly let me know how it works and really people make money or not if it get sold.

I recently worked at a startup and it was terrible. To be honest, I still worked at one of the better ones but it just sucked. Some of the clear downsides I see - Survival mode leads to chaos. You can be treated anyway and asked to leave whenever even though you left big opportunities to be here - Brand loss to find next job (Big problem) - Trying to make you feel unworthy(Doesn't bother me but I have seen people lose self confidence) - Loss of opportunity to build real skills like building sustainable teams for the long run I think over all working at a startup especially early teams is a losing proposition. Do it only if - - you know the founders/team well - you know the industry and market well and it is a bet you personally believe in - you are secure enough in life that if you go back to your job, you will easily get employed For middle class kids, startups are the worst bets one can take.

From the last few days there were talks going on about layoffs in Morgan Stanley. Some 7% of the global staff will be handed over the pink slip in this week. Well... It started happening from today ... Few colleagues from my department were laid, and the reason being "company is trying to survive in the market, company is planning the road ahead by taking such bold steps". When this was announced, my anxiety shot up the next level and I couldn't wait for the meeting to finish. The past few years have not been great for the business worldwide due to which many companies are forced to take such steps. These companies just have been doing a hiring spree from the last 1-2 years that now they are regretting their decisions and letting off their employees. My question is - "If a company hires excessively during the bull market and is forced to lay off few of the employees during the downturn, has the company made an error by not evaluating the headcount or it was just simply the need of the hour" Please note - I know many people out there who have faced job cuts due to many factors, sincerely requesting people to take this matter very seriously

Headcount decreased from 145 to 80 with the target of bringing it to 50. Ceo is a dumbo with no clear understanding of product and future. They launched a new product called Verk which was an AI agent that could do tasks of all kind for you but in background they hired cheap labour to do those tasks manually. Total sham. They aggressively hired across verticals for it and when the bubble burst and investors whopped asses of Ceo and cto (who is a co-founder but just follows master’s orders) by asking them not to use funds raised for a different product to fund this new sham product, they fired people within 2-3 days. Extraordinary performers were let go of just because of office politics and bootlicking by non performing old timers. Btw some founding members also resigned citing future difficulties since this is the 7th pivot they are taking. Founder ensures no firings will happen and then fires folks the next day. Sham company. Beware before joining!

Just an open ended question on why are layoffs happening on such a scale. I personally feel the skill to salary ratio has fucked up so much lately that the companies are having to fire people who are essentially useless to them. More of liabilities than just assets! What do you think?

Another consumer tech startup bites the dust :/ https://entrackr.com/2023/10/ex-myntra-ceos-startup-virgio-shuts-down-after-raising-37-mn/

Where did you work and how much money did you make? Asking as it looks like a lot of promise of ESOPs and wealth creation has failed employees in this bloodbath slow growth, layoffs, and job changes.