I work for a small IT company in a niche industry as a lead architect with a heavy focus on DevOps/SysOps/SRE - when it comes to our infrastructure, I own it from top to bottom. I evolved naturally into this unique position over the course of my ~10 year career, and of those years, have been with my current company for ~3.
I came aboard when the company was full steam ahead as a post-startup along with another senior engineer. He and I were the beginnings of our internal development team. The product was developed and maintained by a ~40 man team offshore. Over the course of ~2 years, we eliminated the offshore team and built a strong 12 man development team that has complimented itself incredibly well.
During this time period, we brought in a new CEO with a strong track record to allow for the company’s President and majority owner to shift his executive focus towards being President of our Private Equity’s Board. We also brought in a new CFO that completely revamped the sales group and the manner in which they pitch our product. By the end of 2018, we had roughly ~60 people on staff but sales had missed its mark heavily. They had a revolving door of sales representatives and a strategy that simply was not working - the CFO had torn down their department and built it in a method completely unfit for our market.
Meanwhile in my department by January 2019, the other lead engineer I had joined the company with had since departed due to issues I would best describe as martyrdom - while he was a genius engineer, he did not know how to be political and would circumvent his superiors. He caused trouble, messed with the team dynamics, grew to be paranoid about his mistakes, and found another opportunity. The impact this had on the team was actually beneficial, and morale was generally boosted.
Fast forward to March and sales had picked up to a consistent pace but was far from the projections that were promised. Cut to a few weeks later (earlier this month) and next thing we know we are having a reduction in force of a third of the company. The ownership group finally got tired of burning through their cash, and in order to make up for the poor sales, the decision was made to make cuts.
It was rather jarring and some departments were wiped out entirely or absolved into others. Ours saw 3 people relieved, 1 of which needed to be let go anyhow. Layoffs hit morale hard and added a ton to my plate due to responsibilities finding themselves towards me.
Thankfully I do not overwork myself too much - I typically work 40-50 hours a week with a few weekends here and there, but given my role and weekend maintenance necessities, the weekend work was known from the start and is compensated by a month’s worth of PTO (plus holidays).
Given the typical perils involved with layoffs and general advice to jump ship, I have found myself searching for an opportunity for a change of pace, scenery, and increase in pay - I am underpaid by at least 20% for my skills. I receive inquiries from recruiters, but I am patient with the opportunities that come my way. I have already had an on-site interview to which I received an offer but declined (the role was poorly described), and several more phone interviews.
While my company itself is going through this transition with an unclear picture at what our PE group is actually planning to do (biggest one is “they might be selling”), I do enjoy my job. I enjoy the people I work with, including my CTO. The work environment is relaxed with a lot of time off. I am exposed to the latest technologies which continue to allow me to evolve into an engineer I am proud to be.
But still yet, layoffs shake the tree, have me questioning the direction of the company, plus contributes to the raw factor that the raise I was anticipating is definitely not happening soon.
However, they threw a curve ball at me today - the President of the PE’s Board came in today (he comes in once a month or so). It was his first time in since the layoffs, and he ran through his meetings with the executives. After he left, my CTO pulled me aside to tell me that while they are unable to give me a raise until (if) sales kicks in, the ownership group recognizes my importance and they are finalizing an equity stake into the company. I do not know the details just yet, but I was told that I’ll be talking to the President sometime next week to go over everything. He said I am one of a few key people in the company that will be receiving this - it’s not being opened up to the general company, and is a way to compensate me until sales kicks in due to a heavily revised sales process (the CFO is likely on his way out soon).
The entire situation has taken me off guard. I am proud that my skill sets are being validated, but there are two sides of me: the optimist thinks that this is also a sign that the company does not plan on selling. The layoffs were honestly due to the burn rate of their cash, needed to get cash neutral, and they are still confident that the company can succeed. The cynic in me thinks there is an ulterior motive behind this - are they just buying my time until they can sell the company? In which case when/if they do, I would receive a portion of that sale for helping them get to the finish line?
My CTO has been with my President for 20+ years through several different companies that they built and sold, and I think that this may be a similar case I’m finding myself in. They are unsure if the company will succeed, and whether they sell or not will be determined by these next quarters. In either case, it seems like a win-win if the equity stake is worthwhile.
Best case if the company is sold, I believe it would continue operating at its current capacity (hence the layoffs to get to cash neutral) and I would still have my job as well as my stake in the company. A hopeful case involves the company being dissolved and I receiving a payout of my shares. I would then transition myself to another company in the PE group’s portfolio to help it grow. Worst case finds the company dissolved, my shares sold, with no job and only connections. Even the “worst case” has a payout with ample amount of time to find another job while still living comfortably.
At this point even with potential ulterior motives, I primarily see a net positive in staying. Our company is small but produces a high value product that the much bigger software players in our industry are interested in integrating. I enjoy the technical work that I do, the people I work with, and the environment of our office. The downside is I do not see a raise for more than a year or two - whether it be a raise here or at another company as a new hire.
As for the valuation of the company, we bring in roughly ~$1.2M in RMR with a projected addition of $400K by the end of the year. Our President has been relatively transparent about interest in the company, and going back to later last year, there was an estimate of $20M for a starting bid. This was prior to RMR additions and the company reaching cash neutral.
If the equity stake proves to be worthwhile, do I stay or is there writing on the wall telling me to leave?
Submitted April 25, 2019 at 09:26AM by SenorSQL http://bit.ly/2IXTB6z
