Comments on: jobster’s silence deafening http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/ Insight and opinion from the world of employment. Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:30:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Car http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-29916 Car Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:45:29 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-29916 Interesting read indeed. I find it outrageous that the board and investors would allow a CEO to make death threats to an employee --- and turn the other cheek. Sounds to me like a ticking time bomb of sorts. It also sounds like the employee whose life was threatened with "a bullet in the head" should have just cause for a larger severance package that should come out of the CEO's compensation IMHO. Interesting read indeed. I find it outrageous that the board and investors would allow a CEO to make death threats to an employee — and turn the other cheek. Sounds to me like a ticking time bomb of sorts. It also sounds like the employee whose life was threatened with “a bullet in the head” should have just cause for a larger severance package that should come out of the CEO’s compensation IMHO.

]]> By: Karen m http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20880 Karen m Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:56:58 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20880 I still can't get over this comment and Did this really happen - "Goldberg did apparently threaten a female employee, saying he’d put a bullet in her head...." If so, this is Much more than an error in judgement.. Does this not describe the leader, and the atmosphere of the company? One of harassment and was mentioned earlier, terrorism. It only makes one wonder, what else did we not hear about? It would take a lot more than a public apology for me to forget that one.. Geez, they are lucky they still have that 10 Million, that young lady bless her heart, has a great opportunity to capitalize.. Cheeze, thanks for this information. What is kinda shocking, no disturbing, is that there are many who are Justifying this type of managment? wow! and I thought we were in the employment business.. Would I want to consider placing for a company like this.. heck no! Would I want to work for a company like this? Emphatic No, and would I want to Know about this before I get a chance to work there? YES! There was a comment made in the previous post which makes total sense. Recruiters have no problem digging into the dirt of candidates, find out as much as you can about them, with the excuse would I want them to work for us.. but, don't candidates have the same rights, should they not be aware? Maybe Jobster will get their act togethor, and it will be one of the best places to work, but today, IMHO it appears not to be a very healthy environment. Karen M I still can’t get over this comment and Did this really happen - “Goldberg did apparently threaten a female employee, saying he’d put a bullet in her head….” If so, this is Much more than an error in judgement.. Does this not describe the leader, and the atmosphere of the company? One of harassment and was mentioned earlier, terrorism. It only makes one wonder, what else did we not hear about?

It would take a lot more than a public apology for me to forget that one.. Geez, they are lucky they still have that 10 Million, that young lady bless her heart, has a great opportunity to capitalize..

Cheeze, thanks for this information. What is kinda shocking, no disturbing, is that there are many who are Justifying this type of managment? wow! and I thought we were in the employment business..

Would I want to consider placing for a company like this.. heck no! Would I want to work for a company like this? Emphatic No, and would I want to Know about this before I get a chance to work there? YES!

There was a comment made in the previous post which makes total sense. Recruiters have no problem digging into the dirt of candidates, find out as much as you can about them, with the excuse would I want them to work for us.. but, don’t candidates have the same rights, should they not be aware?

Maybe Jobster will get their act togethor, and it will be one of the best places to work, but today, IMHO it appears not to be a very healthy environment.
Karen M

]]> By: Daniel R. Sweet http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20339 Daniel R. Sweet Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:38:19 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20339 Having been in the startup world before, my question on the money thing would be how much *uncommitted* money is in the bank? In any case, I agree that Jobster is bigger than Jason Goldberg. It has, as companies do, outgrown him. 99% of startups eventually outgrow their founder. The founder works well to get things started, get people motivated, get buzz, get money, and basically get a new idea running. But eventually, the company has to shift gears into a growing mid-size company and most guys good at startup are not good at the next stage. It is rare to have a Dell, where the founder still is at the helm. Even Bill Gates brought in Ballmer (who had good big-company management experience) when it got too big for him (this is in the early days, not when he became CEO). The future survival of Jobster is dependent on getting "the next stage" guy in place. And I don't know who their VCs are, but I guarantee that if this isn't their first rodeo, they've known who they were going to put in that slot for a long time. Dan Having been in the startup world before, my question on the money thing would be how much *uncommitted* money is in the bank?

In any case, I agree that Jobster is bigger than Jason Goldberg. It has, as companies do, outgrown him.

99% of startups eventually outgrow their founder. The founder works well to get things started, get people motivated, get buzz, get money, and basically get a new idea running. But eventually, the company has to shift gears into a growing mid-size company and most guys good at startup are not good at the next stage.

It is rare to have a Dell, where the founder still is at the helm. Even Bill Gates brought in Ballmer (who had good big-company management experience) when it got too big for him (this is in the early days, not when he became CEO).

The future survival of Jobster is dependent on getting “the next stage” guy in place. And I don’t know who their VCs are, but I guarantee that if this isn’t their first rodeo, they’ve known who they were going to put in that slot for a long time.

Dan

]]> By: Bored Stiff http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20270 Bored Stiff Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:31:59 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20270 I'm bored. Can we please discuss something else other than this personal diary of blah blah. Oh, my IP: 70.153.234.55 since you're so obsessed with knowing who your comments come from. Guess you'd never want to become a radio talk show kinda guy. Then again, you could have a call screener that traces every call. I miss my daily Cheeze :( I’m bored. Can we please discuss something else other than this personal diary of blah blah. Oh, my IP: 70.153.234.55 since you’re so obsessed with knowing who your comments come from. Guess you’d never want to become a radio talk show kinda guy. Then again, you could have a call screener that traces every call. I miss my daily Cheeze :(

]]> By: Marco Rodriguez http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20269 Marco Rodriguez Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:56:45 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20269 Congratulations Cheez, you're now the proud owner of the US Weekly of the recruiting blogosphere. Do we get a picture of Jason eating ice cream next week to see that "he's just like us?" And this is from the guy, when given the opportunity, who will take a shit on any established site in his never ending quest to prove his "iconoclasty." Along comes a site that is different - different idea, different value prop, different interface. Instead of providing some insightful commentary on their product offerings (good or bad), you choose to air the CEO's dirty laundry in public. As it's already been stated by their employees, this has already had a negative effect on their business. So, next time you want to get on your soapbox and cry about how awful the big boards are, think about your actions in the past week and how you've PERSONALLY affected a team who can provide the big sites competition. You get an F. Congratulations Cheez, you’re now the proud owner of the US Weekly of the recruiting blogosphere. Do we get a picture of Jason eating ice cream next week to see that “he’s just like us?”

And this is from the guy, when given the opportunity, who will take a shit on any established site in his never ending quest to prove his “iconoclasty.”

Along comes a site that is different - different idea, different value prop, different interface. Instead of providing some insightful commentary on their product offerings (good or bad), you choose to air the CEO’s dirty laundry in public. As it’s already been stated by their employees, this has already had a negative effect on their business.

So, next time you want to get on your soapbox and cry about how awful the big boards are, think about your actions in the past week and how you’ve PERSONALLY affected a team who can provide the big sites competition.

You get an F.

]]> By: Brendan http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20265 Brendan Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:28:07 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20265 Seems you're not the only person applying an <a href="http://threebrothers.org/brendan/blog/index.php/2007/03/29/jobsters-march-release/" rel="nofollow">Alice-in-Wonderland allusion</a> to Jobster—although I gave it a slightly different feel. To your question—"<em>Where were the thoughtful comments of support from current employees, customers and board members?</em>"—I can only say what's in my own mind: The more phlegmatic personalities probably don't see much reason to break silence, and may only pay lip-service to the "alter [sic] of transparency". I, in fact, prefer to be opaque and <em>never</em> alter my transparency. The people whose opinions you <em>have</em> tapped ostensibly feel a sincere need to either denigrate or exculpate Jobster, but I'm quite sure that (even after the layoffs) that set of people is a only a small portion of Jobster employees. The rest of us, I'm sure, span the spectrum of attitudes towards the company and what is going on—but we don't really feel the need to talk to <em>you</em> about it. I suppose I'm making that untrue for myself by responding, but it's the answer to your question. I guess my transparency has been altered. From where I sit, there are <em>still</em> lots of neat things going on at Jobster. We're designing and building <a href="http://threebrothers.org/brendan/blog/index.php/2007/03/09/atr-redux/" rel="nofollow">cool and useful software</a>, the engineering team is a tight-knit group of friends, and we've survived some hard lessons. I'm not going to defend the indefensible, nor am I mystified by the exodus of many of our talented people, but I'm certainly not packing my bags in the near future. Seems you’re not the only person applying an Alice-in-Wonderland allusion to Jobster—although I gave it a slightly different feel. To your question—"Where were the thoughtful comments of support from current employees, customers and board members?"—I can only say what’s in my own mind:
The more phlegmatic personalities probably don’t see much reason to break silence, and may only pay lip-service to the "alter [sic] of transparency". I, in fact, prefer to be opaque and never alter my transparency. The people whose opinions you have tapped ostensibly feel a sincere need to either denigrate or exculpate Jobster, but I’m quite sure that (even after the layoffs) that set of people is a only a small portion of Jobster employees. The rest of us, I’m sure, span the spectrum of attitudes towards the company and what is going on—but we don’t really feel the need to talk to you about it. I suppose I’m making that untrue for myself by responding, but it’s the answer to your question. I guess my transparency has been altered.
From where I sit, there are still lots of neat things going on at Jobster. We’re designing and building cool and useful software, the engineering team is a tight-knit group of friends, and we’ve survived some hard lessons. I’m not going to defend the indefensible, nor am I mystified by the exodus of many of our talented people, but I’m certainly not packing my bags in the near future.

]]> By: Richard Becker http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20256 Richard Becker Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:54:39 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20256 Hey Joel, Interesting piece, but there is no real mystery here. It seems to me that Jobster does not have a message because they aren't sure who they are or what the message should be ... other than that Jobster comes up with and launches lots of ideas, hoping all the while that one might stick. However, I think (hope) they know this ... and like many companies, just aren't sure how to get started. They are not alone, but they certainly have more visibility than most of companies with similar problems. Rich Hey Joel,

Interesting piece, but there is no real mystery here. It seems to me that Jobster does not have a message because they aren’t sure who they are or what the message should be … other than that Jobster comes up with and launches lots of ideas, hoping all the while that one might stick.

However, I think (hope) they know this … and like many companies, just aren’t sure how to get started. They are not alone, but they certainly have more visibility than most of companies with similar problems.

Rich

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20245 Anonymous Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:17:05 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20245 > Not to mention we still have TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE BANK and we are not going anywhere. Yeah but how many TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS have you burned through already without a whole lot to show for it? > Not to mention we still have TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE BANK and we are not going anywhere.

Yeah but how many TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS have you burned through already without a whole lot to show for it?

]]> By: Carl Chapman http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20215 Carl Chapman Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:18:25 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20215 Some additional comments: NA - "I’m sure Jason is well aware of what he is doing and is probably working 24/7 to build Jobster into something great." Plainly not true, he has spent sometime recreating in lake Washington as he tested to see if his Prada clothing was wash and wear. Catbert - everyone is free to read or not read, comment or not comment. Because of JGo/Jobster's ownership of Recruiting.com, it puts him as a newsworthy story. I'm sure that Joel will be offering great content that is relevant to your business in posts in the near future. Current Jobster Employee - "We have the funds, the products and the people to survive with or without Jason Goldberg. " you may have the funds to survive without him, but the point of the post and Wired's article is that Jobster may not survive WITH him. Threatening to kill an employee is serious, and not just a small error in judgment. If this were a public company, there would be a vacancy announced in the CEO position. My guess is that the VCs will be demanding adult leadership in the very near future. Jason should be applauded for his attempt to create an innovative solution for the job search market. It is apparent to me (and suspect most people that are following his antics) that the company now needs a skill set that he does not possess. If one were to look at simple economics, your customer base of "hundreds" isn't going to be creating a positive cash flow anytime soon - and that, after all is what will be demanded by the VCs. Unless there is a significant pattern of real growth in revenues (not just a decrease in expenses driven by lower labor costs from layoffs and separations) then pressure will mount to such a degree that the company may well not survive. The numerous changes in business model/revenue generation models that are being experimented with are telltale signs that pressure has been mounting for some time... as are the layoffs and Jason's "profitability promise." It is an interesting time there, I'm sure... but I wouldn't want to be there... I lived through that in 2000/2001. Some additional comments:

NA - “I’m sure Jason is well aware of what he is doing and is probably working 24/7 to build Jobster into something great.” Plainly not true, he has spent sometime recreating in lake Washington as he tested to see if his Prada clothing was wash and wear.

Catbert - everyone is free to read or not read, comment or not comment. Because of JGo/Jobster’s ownership of Recruiting.com, it puts him as a newsworthy story. I’m sure that Joel will be offering great content that is relevant to your business in posts in the near future.

Current Jobster Employee - “We have the funds, the products and the people to survive with or without Jason Goldberg.
” you may have the funds to survive without him, but the point of the post and Wired’s article is that Jobster may not survive WITH him. Threatening to kill an employee is serious, and not just a small error in judgment.

If this were a public company, there would be a vacancy announced in the CEO position. My guess is that the VCs will be demanding adult leadership in the very near future. Jason should be applauded for his attempt to create an innovative solution for the job search market. It is apparent to me (and suspect most people that are following his antics) that the company now needs a skill set that he does not possess.

If one were to look at simple economics, your customer base of “hundreds” isn’t going to be creating a positive cash flow anytime soon - and that, after all is what will be demanded by the VCs. Unless there is a significant pattern of real growth in revenues (not just a decrease in expenses driven by lower labor costs from layoffs and separations) then pressure will mount to such a degree that the company may well not survive. The numerous changes in business model/revenue generation models that are being experimented with are telltale signs that pressure has been mounting for some time… as are the layoffs and Jason’s “profitability promise.” It is an interesting time there, I’m sure… but I wouldn’t want to be there… I lived through that in 2000/2001.

]]> By: Current Jobster employee (at least until they track this ip address) http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20160 Current Jobster employee (at least until they track this ip address) Fri, 06 Apr 2007 06:20:36 +0000 http://www.cheezhead.com/2007/04/05/jobster-silence/#comment-20160 If you think it is a good story as an outsider, imagine how much fun we are having with it internally. I have to admit we are really enjoying the drama, but seriously, this is starting to get bad for business. Whether you like Jason, agree with his management style, clothing choice, think he should be fired, or not, there would be no Jobster without JGO. He baked the idea, raised the funds and birthed this bastard child with his own blood sweat and tears. That being said Jobster still employs over 70 OTHER people whom are all trying to build real value with our customers and real change in this industry. How about giving the rest of us a break? We have very mixed feelings on this. This publicity is making it difficult to have serious discussions with employees, partners, clients, and prospects. Truth be told, If employees were polled without fear of consequence or retribution you would find at least 80% would prefer to see him replaced. He has chosen to be a public figure. In fact many people at Jobster feel his sole purpose is to get famous. Well this seems to have done it, can we all get back to work now? We are not the first or last company to get a little caught up in our own hype and grow too fast. We made some tough choices and lost some of the most brilliant and passionate people I have ever worked with. Not just in the layoff but since then as well. Dave Lefkow, Kirk Johnson, James Gallagher, Neil Crist, Marty Unger and about a half-dozen of the most highly skilled developers in Seattle have left by their own choice since the restructure. These people will be sorely missed. People are giving notice almost daily because of the fear, uncertainty and doubt being caused by this blog and others. Does that really help? I have to admit I am getting a little annoyed with all of the references to Jobster in the past tense. Jobster is a very successful business with hundreds of satisfied customers. Not to mention we still have TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE BANK and we are not going anywhere. We have the funds, the products and the people to survive with or without Jason Goldberg. We had a company-wide meeting today with full disclosure of budget, goals, client success etc. We are hitting all of our goals despite all of these distractions, but it gets tougher every day. I hate that the marketplace is being led to believe that Jobster may not be around in 6-12 months or that we are not a safe vendor or partner to do business with. That is just not true. We have several years of operating funds and solid products and services that are in high demand. Is Jason Goldberg killing Jobster? No, Jobster has become much bigger than Jason Goldberg. If you think it is a good story as an outsider, imagine how much fun we are having with it internally. I have to admit we are really enjoying the drama, but seriously, this is starting to get bad for business.

Whether you like Jason, agree with his management style, clothing choice, think he should be fired, or not, there would be no Jobster without JGO. He baked the idea, raised the funds and birthed this bastard child with his own blood sweat and tears. That being said Jobster still employs over 70 OTHER people whom are all trying to build real value with our customers and real change in this industry. How about giving the rest of us a break?

We have very mixed feelings on this. This publicity is making it difficult to have serious discussions with employees, partners, clients, and prospects. Truth be told, If employees were polled without fear of consequence or retribution you would find at least 80% would prefer to see him replaced. He has chosen to be a public figure. In fact many people at Jobster feel his sole purpose is to get famous. Well this seems to have done it, can we all get back to work now?

We are not the first or last company to get a little caught up in our own hype and grow too fast. We made some tough choices and lost some of the most brilliant and passionate people I have ever worked with. Not just in the layoff but since then as well. Dave Lefkow, Kirk Johnson, James Gallagher, Neil Crist, Marty Unger and about a half-dozen of the most highly skilled developers in Seattle have left by their own choice since the restructure. These people will be sorely missed. People are giving notice almost daily because of the fear, uncertainty and doubt being caused by this blog and others. Does that really help?

I have to admit I am getting a little annoyed with all of the references to Jobster in the past tense. Jobster is a very successful business with hundreds of satisfied customers. Not to mention we still have TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE BANK and we are not going anywhere. We have the funds, the products and the people to survive with or without Jason Goldberg.

We had a company-wide meeting today with full disclosure of budget, goals, client success etc. We are hitting all of our goals despite all of these distractions, but it gets tougher every day. I hate that the marketplace is being led to believe that Jobster may not be around in 6-12 months or that we are not a safe vendor or partner to do business with. That is just not true. We have several years of operating funds and solid products and services that are in high demand.

Is Jason Goldberg killing Jobster? No, Jobster has become much bigger than Jason Goldberg.

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