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Zenefits CEO responds to rumors of company's struggles

65 points| zabramow | 10 years ago |businessinsider.com | reply

57 comments

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[+] z0r|10 years ago|reply
That image in the article makes it look like a terrible place to work: http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56495c0e112314ef038...
[+] ryanSrich|10 years ago|reply
That's literally the scene of almost any SV startup. They don't "do" remote. Nor work life balance. It's all about asses in seats. Stay very clear of a work environment like that.
[+] shostack|10 years ago|reply
Yikes...tend to agree. Can't imagine how I'd get anything done in such a cramped, open environment like that. Way too many distractions.

Also couldn't help but notice the "Work Hard" poster in the background. Hopefully the subtext that is too small to make out is something that makes it sound less severe than it seems on the surface.

[+] Someone1234|10 years ago|reply
Nice equipment, but yeah that seems really unpleasant/unproductive.

Random aside: I hate those lights so much. They often give me migraines as they reach the end of their life. Fortunately they have defused LEDs where I currently work which don't have the same issue (and are actually white not orange/yellow).

I want to work somewhere (aside from home) where I can work in the dark. We occasionally get power cuts (and our generator doesn't power the main lights, only emergency lights and equipment) and it is the most pleasant day ever...

http://i.imgur.com/UUw0ANK.jpg

[+] jmspring|10 years ago|reply
That looks worse than some call centers I've seen. I'm not sure how they expect engineers to get any work done in those situations. That looks like "open office" taken to it's worst possible conclusion.
[+] duiker101|10 years ago|reply
Well, apparently for them it's way easier to aquire people than space, I mean, in the last quarter they hired 350 people, and since 1st November 75. That's like 3 people a day? Sounds crazy to me! With such a hire rate the quality must be going down at least a bit, and I can't even imagine what the on-boarding must look like, they just point at a desk(or a corner of one) and leave you at your own devices...

I might be wrong... but I would be surprised if I am very far from the truth.

[+] redthrowaway|10 years ago|reply
It took us 6 months to find, renovate, and move into a new office. If they're adding as many people as they claim, that's more than enough time to go from "we're going to need to upsize soon" to "we needed to upsize months ago".
[+] Jemaclus|10 years ago|reply
I interviewed there this summer, and as the recruiter was giving me a tour, I pretty much decided I wasn't interested. It was just desks as far as the eye could see. It just looked like the SV version of a sweat shop.
[+] rfjedwards|10 years ago|reply
Especially with that poster in the background where the only visible part is "WORK HARD"
[+] 20years|10 years ago|reply
Wow that looks like a nightmare. If I went into that space for an interview, I would runaway quick. I wonder if most of their employees are support. I can't imagine getting any kind of dev work done in that environment.
[+] FLGMwt|10 years ago|reply
Hah, this image made me realize that the iconic Burrill "Work Hard and Be Nice To People" looks a little more sweatshoppy when all you can see is the "WORK HARD" part and a crowded office.
[+] ljk|10 years ago|reply
small desks + stacks of mess... i'll take my cubicle over "open office!"
[+] larrywright|10 years ago|reply
That is awful. Are there people who enjoy working in places like this?
[+] powera|10 years ago|reply
1600 employees and only $80 million in revenue? That's only $50k per employee, which seems very low for a company hiring that aggressively (+25%/quarter).
[+] callmevlad|10 years ago|reply
The article makes it very clear that they are not yet profitable, and won't be for at least a year. Even if they're burning $100M a year, they've raised almost 5 times that amount - so they can sustain losses for a long time.
[+] 1stranger|10 years ago|reply
When I read they recently raised $500 million I thought that must be a typo. I thought it must have been $50 million. I was wrong, they actually raised $500 million.
[+] 20years|10 years ago|reply
My guess is most of the employees are support & sales which are generally lowering paying positions. Considering all of the complaints on the other recent HN thread, they most likely need a lot of support to hold down the fort.
[+] yeukhon|10 years ago|reply
I wonder why they really need 1600 employees...to be quite honest, and I have a feeling half of them are contractors / consultants.
[+] rabidonrails|10 years ago|reply
I expect him to say that his company is "doing great," but he doesn't address why Fidelity cut its outlook on Zenefits (especially if everything is rainbows and butterflies).
[+] tomasien|10 years ago|reply
It went from a 4.5B company in their estimation to a 2.5B company in their estimation, still less than 3 years after it was founded. All projections were so far into the future already that they could swing massive %'s based on partner activity, even small revenue misses (ever changed your mo/mo growth rate in a spreadsheet by 1%?), or competitive activity. But going from a 4.5B company to a 2.5B company while still less than 3 years old isn't a sign of the apocalypse in the company.
[+] d_welsman|10 years ago|reply
Assuming the figures that Conrad is saying are correct, it is still an amazing company that is growing quickly. Just investors are starting to take a more realistic view on valuations, and readjusting those valuations in their books.

Just because super ambitious growth targets aren't met doesn't mean the company is about to go under...