Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

[RBBronson123]

So it’s with deep professional and personal sadness that I must announce my plans to shut down 70 Million Resources, Inc., the parent company of 70 Million Jobs (the 1st national, for-profit employment platform for people with criminal records) and Commissary Club (the first mobile social network for this population).

When I launched 70MR in 2016, I was motivated to build a company that could short circuit the pernicious cycles of recidivism in this country--cycles that destroy lives, tear apart families and decimate communities. I sought to disrupt the sleepy reentry industry by applying technology, focusing on data, employing an aggressive, accountable team, and moving with some urgency. And for the first time, approaching the challenge as a national, for-profit venture.

This approach, which I named “RaaS,” (Reentry as a Service), turned out to be wildly effective, and by the beginning of 2020, we were delivering on our mission of driving “double bottom line returns”: build a big, successful business and do massive social good. With the help of Y Combinator and nearly 1,500 investors, I assembled a team and got to work.

We succeeded in facilitating employment for thousands of deserving men and women and became operationally profitable.

However, the pandemic had other plans for us. When it hit in force in March 2020, companies made wholesale terminations of nearly all our people, and continued their halt in hiring for two years.

Our revenue dropped like a rock to almost nothing. I immediately responded by paring our expenses to the bone and began letting team members go. There was no opportunity to raise additional funding, so I began injecting my own money into the company—money I barely have—just to keep the lights on.

When the economy and job market began storming back, we were inundated with inbound requests for our services. Our perseverance seemed to be paying off. Except now we were hit with a new gut punch: “The Great Resignation.” Now our workers were reticent to come back to work. And if they did accept a job, they’d often leave after only a few days.

It became obvious that we lacked the resources to weather this new storm while hoping and praying the world would normalize soon. (It still hasn’t.)

Our coffers are empty. We’ve incurred a relatively small amount of debt (that I personally guaranteed) that I hope to negotiate down. All employees have been paid what they were owed (except for me). I will explore sale of assets we hold.

On a personal note, I can’t tell you how grateful and humbled I’ve been that many would entrust their investment or business with me. For a person who’s done time in prison (me), it’s almost impossible to ask for someone’s trust. I have not yet forgiven myself for things I did which ultimately got me into trouble. But I will be eternally grateful to those that assisted me in my efforts to settle the score and win back my karma.

From the beginning I was blessed by an unbelievable team of smart, funny, passionate young people who shared my ambition to cause change. They stuck with me/us until the very end.

I’m most saddened by the millions of formerly incarcerated men and women who we won’t be able to help. These are some of the most sincere, honest, and heroic people I’ve ever met. It was my life’s honor to work with them.

I’m pretty sure I’ll continue my reentry work. Several prominent organizations have indicated their interests in me assuming a leadership role. I need to work, and I need to continue my work.

I’m so sorry for this outcome, despite the good we’ve done. I’m not sure we could have done anything differently or better, but ultimately, I take full responsibility. Needless to say, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out, here or at [email protected].

This has been the greatest experience of my life; it couldn’t have happened without my getting a second chance.

Richard

[buf]

This really bums me out.

I was a convicted felon at 18 years old, poor, living on the street.

It wasn't any government re-integration program that helped me, it was a random person I met in highschool.

I worked my way through everything -> college -> jobs -> startups -> lucky windfalls -> owning my own company. I've immigrated to Europe (3 times in the last 10 years technically), beating the legal issues each time.

And finally, after 17 years, I'm no longer a felon thanks to a pardon and expungement.

I really wish something like 70MR would stay up. Not everyone can be as lucky as me. Is there some place I can donate?

[WheelsAtLarge]

It's your type of understanding and fervor that's needed for a 70MR to move forward. Have you considered taking it over? Think about it. Sometimes you're the solution.

[omginternets]

I really hope you, or someone else, takes another stab at this project when the economic winds shift. It's a worthwhile endeavor.

[RBBronson123]

Hey Buf-thanks for sharing your feelings and your kind words of support. And congrats for kicking ass in your release. A number of people have asked about donating, but frankly, I don't feel right about accepting charity. We'll get through this, and I will continue pursuing my life's work. Thank you again for your big heart. Richard

[notch656a]

Emigration honestly is the most logical option for a felon. A few nations will accept local background checks in the immigration process, so if you move to a state where you don't have a record you can just get your police report from a place where your record is clean.

Another option is to go live in a Compact of Free Association nations such as Micronesia or Marshall Islands. US citizens are authorized to live and work there without a visa, so once you live overseas there for a few years you can immigrate to most other nations using the background check from your country of prior residence, which is now a country where you have a clear background.

[bitcoinmoney]

What crime were you convicted of?

[RBBronson123]

When I announced the launch of 70 Million Jobs on HN back in 2017, it proved to be one of the most widely read and discussed posts ever on the site. I was totally blown away. Once again, I am struck by the incredibly sensitive and supportive tenor of the reactions to my news here.

For some context, besides having a criminal record, I was/am a solo founder who somehow talked his way into Y Comb. Perhaps most surprising is my age: I'm 68. To my friends I grew up with, I'm f'-ing Steve Jobs. To you guys, you'd no doubt see me as the bumbling great uncle at Thanksgiving that isn't allowed to touch the TV remote control.

So it's all been pretty weird. (wanna see it get weirder? google me and check out my past)

As you all know, doing a 2-sided marketplace is always tough. But imagine if neither side of your marketplace was convinced they wanted your product. Chances are you keep your distance from such an undertaking ("Build something people want," my YC t-shirt says). I build something arguably no one wanted, but I knew they needed. Does that make me a schmuck? Probably.

But to those who've never gotten close to someone with as record--particularly someone with a different color than you, who was brought into an unfair world from Day One, someone who wanted the same things as you, but never quite figured out how to get there, I'm here to say that some of these folks are the most honorable, humble, appreciate, hard-working people you could imagine. They just want a peaceful life, to take care of their family and get a good night sleep.

So that's where the mission comes in, and that's when zealots are born. The truth is, I have nothing in my life other than my work. No wife, no kids, no home, nothing. But the satisfaction I got from helping these heroic folks, and the smiles I'd see on their kids' faces when they were reunited, meant/means the world to me. If you don't have something like this in your life, I urge you to find it. Your karma will thank you for it.

I invite you all to ask your questions and continue to opine. If you have something to share that isn't merely an attempt to win an argument, I'd appreciate your taking the time to email me. More importantly, if you're ever in a position to hire someone with a record, take the chance. Life is too short not to take chances. Richard

[RBBronson123]

There seems to be some confusion here over my use of the expression, "The Great Resignation." https://www.investopedia.com/the-great-resignation-5199074 This is a economic/workforce phenomenon that began amidst the pandemic and continues. (The NY Times reported today that there are 11.4 million unfilled jobs. That's historically off the charts.)

My company operates/ed a job board and a staffing business. Both ran like traditional job boards (Indeed, Zip Recruiter, etc) and staffing companies (Kelly, Adecco, etc.), except being focused entirely on the formerly incarcerated. This is how large employers source many, many employees.

The staffing business was much larger. In this model, we serve as the hirer-of-record, and essentially lease out the workers to our client employers, who cover all our costs (wages, unemployment insurance, taxes, etc.) plus our mark-up (profit). It's a high volume, low margin business.

During the Great Resignation, we found it took 10x the time and effort to get someone placed, eroding our already thin margins. Plus, if a worker left (which they began doing at a great rate), we're obligated to replace them. All of this made it pretty much impossible for us to make money. (Again, we're a for-profit business). I hope this clarifies things.

[danans]

> During the Great Resignation, we found it took 10x the time and effort to get someone placed, eroding our already thin margins. Plus, if a worker left (which they began doing at a great rate)

Where do you think they went? If they mostly went to work elsewhere because as part of the "Great Resignation" because they found better opportunities, then perhaps you accomplished your social mission (which was presumably giving them a foot in the door of gainful work), even if it was at the price of the business.

Maybe structural impediments to employment for felons came down due to a tightening labor market?

For example, in CA, laws are being passed to allow formerly incarcerated wildlands firefighters to work in that job after release:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtm...

If they resigned instead due to hopelessness and falling back through the proverbial cracks of society, that's a terrible result.

[joe_the_user]

This describes the "Great Resignation" but doesn't explain it.

Of course, there are a lot of things going on. However, I think one important thing is that American workplaces, over the last twenty or more years, gradually accumulated immensely toxic/abusive cultures. At the point of the pandemic, when many people had unemployment/work-at-home/savings, a lot of workers' had their tolerance of that interrupted and then just refused to return.

The thing with the situation is toxic work environments basically are going to double down on their claims, their view of what a sane environment and reasonable pay are. So these organizations are eating through employees and so they'd be the worst customers of a job board. The question how much 70m Record vetted their customers.

Article explaining the toxic angle: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/how-toxic-co...

Employees discuss their views: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/

[UnpossibleJim]

I know this is a bit off topic, but even during the "Great Resignation", as I always do I keep my eyes open on the job market (non-felon with a good work history, so this is a departure from the conversation, I apologize). With all of the complaints from employers about "We can't find people to work for us!", even in the software industry (which is well payed, compared to a lot of my friends), I didn't see the expected raise in the offering salaries for such claimed desperation. Especially when inflation is pushing from the bottom and housing prices (at least in the Seattle area, my area) are still nuts. The expectations of experience are laughable and, frankly, to be to be ignored at this point. I'm not even sure who writes the spec sheets for positions.

[braingenious]

How many people got a job and quit after a few days as you described?

Did this have any impact on recidivism?

Is it possible that these employees found better jobs? If so, could it have theoretically been possible to retain them had you offered better wages, benefits or assignments?

I just don’t fundamentally understand the position of “I had a group of people that truly needed my business, but a phenomenon called The Great Resignation changed the world in such a way that they… didn’t need it anymore (?)”

Is it possible that your business model of (in your parlance) leasing out convicts maybe had some sort of innate flaw unrelated to covid?

[coderintherye]

Could you try reaching out to The Last Mile project? This might be something they could take over: https://thelastmile.org/

I could help facilitate an introduction if helpful.

[elzbardico]

Someday the historians will puzzle how so many people quit their jobs hit at the heels of the great 2023 Depression. How could they have missed the signs?

[milesdyson_phd]

When the economy and job market began storming back, we were inundated with inbound requests for our services. Our perseverance seemed to be paying off. Except now we were hit with a new gut punch: “The Great Resignation.” Now our workers were reticent to come back to work. And if they did accept a job, they’d often leave after only a few days.

As in the workers you placed, employees of 70MR? Why would they leave after a few days? Can you expand on this?

It became obvious that we lacked the resources to weather this new storm while hoping and praying the world would normalize soon. (It still hasn’t.)

What does normalize mean to you (or 70MR)?

[somethingAlex]

Going to third the "need more information on this."

Are they job hopping, in which case wouldn't that also be a revenue stream for 70MR? Did they find that it was such a sellers' market that they didn't need 70MR's services to get good jobs anymore?

I never really understood this "shortage of workers / great resignation" phenomenon to begin with, so perhaps this specific situation would be a good one to use as a concrete example.

[braingenious]

I would also like more information about this phenomenon.

What’s the scale of this? For example, how many people accepted a job and then quit within a few days?

How did it impact these people’s lives? For example, did this result in increased recidivism? If so, at what scale?

[ukyrgf]

I manage IT for an office and one of our hires said they got covid, took a month to join, and then when she showed up her manager decided to move her desk. I think maybe I got the desktop and a monitor moved before I was told to stop because she just quit. I can think of maybe 3 people in my office that have stayed for over a year, none on bad terms, just hopping jobs.

[irrational]

Back to the way it was pre-pandemic. I work for a Fortune 100 company with great pay and fantastic benefits (I am on a 6 week paid sabbatical right now). But whereas before people would stay with the company for 5-10 years, now they are leaving in droves (not because anything bad is happening at the company, we are doing great) and nobody is sticking around.

[0des]

> Several prominent organizations have indicated their interests in me assuming a leadership role. I need to work, and I need to continue my work.

Take the job so you dont starve, and so you can begin to rebuild. It's not time to shut the doors, it's just time to take a knee and get your game plan together. It ain't over yet, it's just halftime.

This will help: https://marker.medium.com/reflecting-on-my-failure-to-build-...

[EarthLaunch]

Not OP but is exactly what I needed to read for my own project, thank you. I’ve been searching for this.

It’s hard to find discussions about the real downsides of using VC money. For instance, what happens when growth fails? Do you lose ownership of the business? From reading this, the answer seems to be: Kind of, yeah. You have to buy your way back.

Another one: What happens if you want to do something extremely risky? My project is a game; what if an asteroid impact seems best for the design, but runs the risk of literally destroying the player base? I can’t imagine that would receive creative encouragement.

So as the author said, it depends on how value is to be measured.

[toomuchtodo]

Hi Richard, I'd like to donate towards retiring the debt you've personally guaranteed. How can I do this?

Thanks for trying, it's more than most do. My genuine condolences you were unable to maintain traction due to the macro.

(agree with 0des' sibling comment, hibernate the effort vs this being the death of it)

[lief79]

Just to state the obvious, do this after he's negotiated down any debts if possible.

[ericskiff]

I'd be up for helping with this as well

[mikekij]

Same. GoFundMe?

[amoorthy]

Hi Richard - I'd like to donate as well to help you retire your debt.

I'm sorry the company didn't work out but I am so happy there are people like you in this world doing such a good thing. I hope there is a way to resurrect your project in future.

[polio]

Does advertising your willingness publicly make it harder for him to negotiate?

[RBBronson123]

Thanks, Too, for your kind offer. I don't think I could accept charity, but am gratified by the offer. Richard

[RickWolter]

For anyone in the thread wondering how a felon might get ahead...

Im a formerly incarcerated software engineer. I now run a non-profit org called Underdog Devs dedicated to getting formerly incarcerated people into software engineering jobs.

We have over 450 members. We experienced engineers from all over the industry that will guide you. We also have a program called Project Underdog where we offer a stipend to pay their bills and have them pair program all week long with various mentors. Its led by the brilliant Jessica McKellar and has proven to be better than any bootcamp or CS program ive experienced.

Reach out if you would like some support.

https://www.underdogdevs.org

and on Twitter @UnderdogDevs

[chrisweekly]

Wow. Thanks for sharing. Congrats on your personal story of redemption, and for all the good you've done for others. I'm impressed and moved. Agreed w others here, recommend hibernation if possible.

On a recidivism-related tangent, a close friend of mine runs a nonprofit called "Guitars Behind Bars" -- https://guitarsbehindbars.com -- which does like it says on the tin, providing instruments and a musical outlet to convicts. It's had profound positive effects on the inmates who've participated (and their jailers/wardens, too). Bringing it up here bc stories about helping ex-convicts don't often feature on the HN front page.

Power to you, Richard. Keep fighting the good fight, and thank you for being a light for others.

[RBBronson123]

Thanks for the support, Chris

[danans]

> When it hit in force in March 2020, companies made wholesale terminations of nearly all our people, and continued their halt in hiring for two years.

Is this because the people you were representing were mostly in sectors affected by the pandemic (travel, restaurant, etc), or were they were mostly "contingent workforce" jobs that are first to be cut?

[Hnaomyiph]

I’m not a felon but get so upset at our current system that tries to pretend to care about people with records but in actuality leaves them to rot.

I’m a business owner and my first employee and current operations manager is a felon. I knew this prior as I worked with him before, before starting my own business. He ended up in that position and doing 3 years of prison because America for a lot of people sucks. It sucked for him and he was in a position where it was either do felonious things or be homeless. So he made an obvious choice.

He’s struggled with work since then, because as soon as they see felon they tend to disregard him. It sucks. I know his case isn’t standard, but it also isn’t rare. Society treats these people like lepers and I hope the tides change on this, or we get actual criminal reform. Because what we’ve got right now OP’s business should have went under because it wasn’t needed anymore. But that’s not the case.

[asimpleusecase]

What you have done, take on a seriously hard problem that has real benefits for marginalised people and society as a whole, is exactly the type of risky innovation that we need more of. Pause, heal, and come back again.

[kingcharles]

As a current prisoner who is yet to be released, let me say thank you for everything you've done.

I've spent the last 9 years around felons and it is sad as most of them never had a chance in life, being born either into an environment that practically guaranteed incarceration, or being born with mental health issues that this nation fails to treat and instead incarcerates.

[weinr0ck]

Just a question, when you do get released, what do you plan on doing? Are there government programs to train in certain areas?

[spicybright]

A felony on your record might as well be a gang tattoo on your face.

First I'm hearing of you unfortunately, but thank you so much for your contribution to this terrible issue so many face.

You not only changed many people pull themselves back up, but you put an imprint on the world that yes, people with criminal backgrounds in their past as just as worthy of opportunities as anyone else.

Wish you the best going forward and, if it's the right path for you to walk, wish you luck trying again.

And post your next endeavors on HN more, I'd love to hear about it ;)

[RBBronson123]

Thanks, I will

[latchkey]

Sorry to hear about this. It seems like a wonderful altruistic service.

Were you able to apply for PPP (and other covid related) loans / grants? I feel like of all businesses, yours should have been easy to get something like that.

[RBBronson123]

Yes, we did get some PPP money, and it sustained us for some time, but it dried up quickly. Thanks for your comment and your kind words.

[spaniard89277]

I'm not even from the US but props to you man. I know some words from random internet people don't fix the situation but to me you're an inspiration. Hopefully, some day, with some more money, wiser and with skills that I'm lacking, I can make a company to solve a real problem like you did.

It's sad that the amount of money floating around doesn't pour into a company like yours.

[ushakov]

> It's sad that the amount of money floating around doesn't pour into a company like yours.

money is put where profits are

this seems like a low-margin low-profit business

it’s not the investors who are the problem, it’s the capitalist system which encourages this behavior

[clausnitzercan]

Richard,

When I think of the great people I met from our batch, you’re at the top of the list. Your passion and gratitude were contagious. I was always rooting for you and I will continue to do so. That letter you wrote to the entire batch at the culmination of our YC experience remains one of the great missives I’ve received. You’re top shelf, sir!

Onward! Steven

[RBBronson123]

Thx Bro-hope all is well

[PragmaticPulp]

> we were inundated with inbound requests for our services. Our perseverance seemed to be paying off. Except now we were hit with a new gut punch: “The Great Resignation.” Now our workers were reticent to come back to work. And if they did accept a job, they’d often leave after only a few days.

Can you clarify: Were the employees of your 70MR organization hesitant to return to work and quitting after a few days? Or were the people who requested your services quitting jobs several days after placement?

[RBBronson123]

The inundation came from large national employers desperate to fill jobs. The job seekers became much more selective.

[Cverax]

After lurking for years I created an account just to reply to this post and to say thank you. I’ve never gone to jail/prison but I know many who have and I’ve always wanted to figure out a way to help them gain employment and housing upon leaving prison. You did what I wanted to do & I love knowing that someone out there gave a damn and tried. I’m sure you’ll succeed in your future endeavors but once again, thank you for trying my friend.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Thanks for your Service, Richard.

I do know that there's a chap from Florida that has done something similar. I can't remember exactly what his HN handle was, but we had a rather prickly exchange, some time back.

If you are interested in providing services like this in the future, he might not be a bad person to team up with.

I wish you (and he) the very best of luck, in your future endeavors. I'm pretty big on that ol' "second chance" thing.

[EDITED TO ADD] This article is interesting. What makes it even more interesting, is the author of the article (It's NYT, so there may be a paywall): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/opinion/clean-slate-incar...

[EDITED TO ADD (2)] The person I mentioned is one of your replies. He runs Underdog Devs: https://www.underdogdevs.org/

[f0e4c2f7]

Richard it is better to have failed at this than to succeed at a lot of easier things.

I found 70 million jobs inspirational and I'm proud of the work you did.

Someday someone else will move this idea a little further down the field.

[RBBronson123]

thanks for your support