When it comes to layoffs, 1/3 of total staff seems to be a magic number. Portland based Jive Software, which is backed by Sequoia, laid off around 40 people today, a third of their total staff. This follows massive employee growth over the last year. Twelve months ago the company had around 60 employees.
Two Vice Presidents are among those that left – Marty Kagan, VP Engineering and Scott Campbell, VP Sales.
One employee, Chris Kalani, had resigned and his last day was this Friday. But according to his blog he was walked out today along with the others. And as usual, standard human resources procedure meant he and the others couldn’t use their computers again. In a new twist, they weren’t even allowed back to their desks to collect their personal items.
We’re tracking layoffs under the DeadPool tag.
Update: I spoke with Jive CMO Sam Lawrence, who confirms the company had a Reduction in Force today. He won’t confirm how many people (or who) was laid off, but did say that Kalani’s blog post was inaccurate and overstated. He also confirms the company is financially healthy and remains profitable, but that they felt this was necessary given changing market conditions to “stay ahead of the curve.” Lawrence also said that employees who were let go were absolutely allowed to take their personal items with them.
Those of us who went through the last downturn will remember this: the first companies to let people go are often the ones who survive.
“In a new twist, they weren’t even allowed back to their desks to collect their personal items.”
Jive Software is aptly named.
“”Oh stewardess, I speak jive”
http://www.yout...h?v=P-xHPU6NulM
that sux. They are still very top heavy though. hope the ceo took a pay cut.
what is this company doing ?
“fast track your online community with our special bundle solution”
oh well another cryptic company, some flesh for 1938media.com
they actually make pretty awesome software.
Valleywag’s rumoring 50% layoffs at Tesla… what do your sources say?
I agree. Jive Forums software is a great piece of software. For users and admins alike.
Yes Michael, it is good – not awesome. I’ve been testing it in parallel with Sharepoint, and guess what, the integration from Microsoft is still the king in the collaborative area.
They are good, but not that good.
Really? You tweeted earlier this year and kinda ripped Jive…
http://twitter....tuses/784184958
@marshallk gushes over Jive Software. As a user, I have to say going with Jive was the worst business decision we’ve ever made.
09:29 PM April 06, 2008 from web in reply to marshallk
TechCrunch
Michael Arrington
they actually where a pretty decent development house and then they got very confused in terms of products I think… thats my opinion anyway
regards
John Jones
http://www.johnjones.me.uk
this damn technology innovation is a back stabber. the “inevitable evolution” curve is gonna put a bunch more techies out of work. innovation killed the cat.
DeathLocator.com
I’m sorry to hear this. It’s been ages since I’ve used Jive, and I understand the company culture has probably morphed quite a bit. But when I did use them I thought they were a wonderful model of professional supported social software, in that case message boards. I know there are a million free open source message board platforms, but the customer we were working for really wanted support (and had major money). Usually that means having to deal with third rate enterprise software, but Jive was actually very polished. Best luck to everyone, whether they stayed or left, or whether they got pushed out ages ago and are now looking on in horror.
why did this company ever have or need over 100 people in the first place. (according to web site).
what’s wrong with drupal and django and a couple people to build a CMS
‘Nice’ way to let people go that have nothing to do with the reason why they’re let ousted.
Interesting thing is that when they took the $15m from Sequoia they claimed to be profitable.
how does a company go from Profitable and $15m in the bank to laying off 1/3 of staff in less than 1 year?
Great product but something is very wrong with this picture.
It has not been said that they had lost money. Sounds like they cut back on operating staff in anticipation of lower renewals, which quite totally sucks.
To “stay ahead of the curve” they may be conserving their capital for new development and deployment which might be performed offshore or by persons with different skills than those whom they happen to have in operations.
We’ll keep our eyes open while watching out for this type of scenario everywhere else that we’re trying to stay employed, or at least, contracted (until the next contraction).
It also suggests that in the current recession service providers like Jive are positioning themselves for the likelihood that their services will be among the next to be cut. So much for the ROI of Collaborative Services, or at least how it’s being perceived in the CFO’s office.
http://richread...r.blogspot.com/
offshoring might not be the silver bullet for the problems … but it can definitely help startups reduce their operational cost while continuing to innovate
- Raza
http://www.confiz.com
your offshore development partner
Thanks, Raza,
I am sure all Americans will feel better knowing that in the face of layoffs, outsourcing firms from India are ready to take even more jobs away while producing crappy work.
Now could you please be a dear and get that telemarketer from New Delhi that calls during dinner every night to please stop?
Oh yeah he’s right. Whups. I just thought it would be cool to leave all my stuff there.
Hate to hear bad news, and yes, Jive makes cool software.
But there’s something terribly wrong not letting people collect their personal stuff. At 100 or so employees management should spend enough time hiring (not firing) and get to know their people well enough to trust them. Or if they know they can’t trust them – well then hiring was screwed in the first place.
Something is really, really weird.
They are down sizing to slowly relocate the company.
Portland is not a friendly place for young technology companies, impossible to get funding, hard to find talent and a different work ethic (not that it is a bad thing). Most successful startups in Portland are bootstrapped, again not a bad thing, but the problem is once they get to a certain size…they leave.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Being in Portland didn’t stop them from getting $15m this year.
They became profitable with Portland employees (more than you can say for most valley companies).
There are more than enough talented people in Portland on both the technical and creative side of things. Companies like Intel, Nike and Adidas make sure of that.
and the whole work ethic line is a bunch of crap. Stop listening to the urban myths and get a clue on your own.
Right they got funding….so they won’t be in Portland much longer. Once you hit a certain mass it is hard to stay in Portland. I am not knocking Portland, it is just different than The Bay Area or Seattle even, I have lived in all three.
Intel, Nike, Adidas are not startup tech companies. There are a lot of creative services companies in Portland, but there is not a lot of support for startup tech companies at least from my experience.
Again not saying it is bad, just different. We will see, if Jive moves out of Portland you owe me a beer.
Portland has better beer. Silicon Valley has better chips.
I’ll take you up on that beer bet, E-Martinez. But I only drink Northwest beer, so you better be prepared to buy me the good stuff!
Still totally disagree with you though
Portland is so nice outside, nobody really wants to work.
True..very difficult to find anyone with a realwork ethic. Loads of pretend tech/web companies there.
I know. Standards are low.Contacted by http://www.zappcity.com..a joke and there are hundreds like it. This story is odd..Oh and run and get a tattoo?
Maybe they are affected by this great financial crisis
Bummer. I like those Jive guys. I’m sure this is tough on everyone there. The times, they are a’ changin’…
This is too bad. I hope my friends are ok there. Sam seams to be ok.
If anyone from Jive’s sales is looking for a job, give me a call
We may be able to work with you.
Jive got $15M last year from Sequoia and they were setting it up in for a big sales or an IPO. This was the word in the cloud. The funny thing is that as soon as the Sequoia ppt got out, we knew that Jive will have to scale back from the 175 people they have. I can point to a few more Enterprise 2.0 companies that will have to do the same. Don’t forget many of these guys do their dev work here in the States and their cost is very high. We will see more cuts in Telligent, IBM, EMC, etc. if you ask me. The high evals are out the door and the VC’s will want the CFO to keep more cash for bad days. The industry will also have to cut their prices. Jive is charging more than the rest of us in the market and will have to go lower now.
Vassil
blogtronix.com
This is a bummer.
Any sales people looking for work, please contact us – http://tomoye.com/careers.html –
We have a great stable of committed customers.
Wow, the bad economic situation is finally hitting the tech industry. Is someone here was talking about slow down and bubble just last week?
@Vassil: I agree re Jive’s prices, we’re a reseller and our lead to sale ratio is woeful, everyone loves the product, hates the price. But we do have to multiply by 1.5 to get Au$.
@Dave: Call me, we have a better product and better price and starting our partner program now
It makes me wonder…if so many were expendable, why were they there in the first place?
I wish them luck, they’ve got an interesting product in a space that’s
due for some very tough competition soon.
If you’re not making the product, selling the product, or supporting the
customers, go to the back of the line.
Hope this is just Jive being prudent in light of the current economy, and not an indication of the health of the company. Jive is good people.
This company’s priorities were out of whack. Case in point: they hired an IBM veteran to “evangelize social software”, and that person (who probably managed a small team) most likely earned more than the combined salaries of any three employees let go today (sans the VPs), and probably spent more in travel than most employees takehome pay. This is purely the excess that comes with spending some big VC paycheck. It just is.
The true test of whether they care about course correcting: how many employees did they forsake to keep the powerpoint jockeys on the payroll?
insignificant layoffs, valley has seen way worse and even in the good ole 90’s layoff we’re an everyday occurrence.
i think if you spell ‘RiF’ in caps, then it means you’re not a monster or something.
@Vassil, WTF?! Pls dump Telligent’s good name into this. We’re doing fine and are leaving our 35 open headcount as is. If you want to compete, bring it. But pls don’t spread rumors about Telligent. You disappoint me.
Doesnt Lawerence look like a fool today.
So pissed, I mistyped. I meant, “Pls DO *NOT* lump Telligent’s good name into this mess.” Feh…
Put it in perspective: we are living in some crazy f’d up economic times right now. Blame Bush, blame Fannie Mae, blame Wall Street – whatever. Don’t blame entrepreneurs who build a company for reacting to a historic economic crisis.
Every company should be as dedicated to changing their business plan when the market changes as they are to innovating their product when technology changes.
Portland is unique. One of the ways that we’re special is that the tech community pulls together in a crisis and we’ll find a way to to help everyone involved in this – from the execs (who we don’t demonize) to the unemployed (who we don’t disrespect).
Of course great beer, amazing fishing, kick-ass coffee, a thriving alt-art scene, proximity to live volcanoes, and the sheer number of strip clubs per capita makes us special, too, but that’s for another blog….
@Lawrence, Sorry, all I am saying that this is going around and all companies will be affected. Yes, you guys should be fine for now with the new $20M funding here, OK. And since this is Intel $, you may not be forced as others to cut, but this is just what I think. I am not trying to put down Telligent.
@Lawrence, One more thing, we are all in this. We may have to move jobs from the Bay Area to Europe to cut costs as well. You guys are one of the bigger companies in the space and if you think that your CFO is not talking to your VC about cutting the fat, maybe he is not doing his job well. Since I have Financial/banking background, this is what I would be doing. Again, I don’t know of any specifics and it sounds like Telligent is going strong. Good for you guys. As far as competing, you are on
OMG, and you are the president! If any company should be concerned about survival it is Blogtronix for being led by someone who uses this blog to push his company and undermine competitors. LAME!
OMG I heard Jive is getting into the petting zoo business. And bonsai tree farming.
When Amazon fired people they don’t let them go back to their office and collect personal items either. I’ve seen it first hand.
Yes, 1/3 seems a magic number… so when are you going to report on the layoffs at Seesmic?
Or are you finally discovering the conflict of interest that arises when investing in companies you are supposed to be covering?
too bad. jive had some great people.
@Vassil, again, pls don’t be so presumptious about Telligent’s “situation” which you really don’t know anything about. While the economic downtown will affect everyone in our space (and elsewhere), the degree of impact will be different. At Telligent, we have great product/services ppl and not much top heavy fat to cut. While other companies are cutting back, we plan to grow and add to staff and increase investment in prod dev. That’s what will separate the true leaders from what will be left of the crowd 12-18 months from now.
http://twitter.com/LLiu
Point well taken. I know that Rob is a good CEO. You are right, if you guys can that’s great for you. Cheers, V
“we have great product/services ppl and not much top heavy fat to cut”…
…says the top heavy fat.
lol too right
Funny, the claim SAP as a customer, yet I never saw the software in-house
Must be a 1-user or veeery smal workgroup license
Eh… Given the size of SAP, there could be hundreds or thousands of licenses without you noticing it.
Our collaboration workspace (CA) is on Jive. It’s got like 14,000 members and over a thousand communities–it just isn’t branded as Jive. I’m sure you’ve seen it.
Funny, they claim SAP as a customer but I never see there software used here…
Must be a very small license…
He won’t confirm how many people (or who) was laid off, but did say that Kalani’s blog post was inaccurate and overstated.
What preytell was overstated? That they couldn’t go back and collect their personal items? Why didn’t their CMO clear things up instead of just muddying the waters?
@Tim as we all know, marketing tends to publish big brand wins ‘wink’… whats funny is they really dont know the true scope of work!
@BlogReader: They were able to go collect their belongings. Like other coordinated RIFs, they were given an opportunity to collect personal effects immediately, and have time to return and collect personal data from computers and any other missed items from their desks. It would seem that Mr. Kalani’s situation was either unique, or incorrect.
Portland rocks. I’ve been here since 1996. I’ve never seen such energy and passion about tech, the web, blogging, etc. Thank goodness we are not like Seattle or the Valley. It would ruin everything. We’ll continue to develop our identity. That will lead to talent moving here, not away.
Startups don’t need 10 or more employees. They need small groups of talented and passionate people. Portland is a town that is perfect for that kind of community.
Like a lot of people here in Portland, I have looked at Jive with respect. That changed a bit yesterday. I think the positive image of the company is now in question. I would expect that goes for its image here locally, the Valley and beyond.
I just hope they respond fast. It’s disappointing to see how this unfolded. It’s bad for Jive and in a number of ways, reflects negatively on the Portland community.
Michael: One quick question:
If the first companies to let people are go are the ones that usually survive, why track this news under the “deadpool” tag?
@ E_Martinez
Re: Portland as an investment/software dev/ startup environment
The Portland you describe is about 10 years out of date. I’m someone who’s lived in both locations. I’ve been in SF since the earthquake and the early Bush era recession. Recall the OTHER Bush-led financial crises (S&L anyone?) I witnessed the spring-back w/ the Multimedia/CDROM revival and into the web brochureware hype phase on into the super heated bubble. I’ve been a part of VC-backed start ups who’s backers included Kleiner, Sequoia, IVP, Technology Crossover Ventures, Mayfield and others. I currently live in Portland and let me tell you, the cost-basis for doing business here, the creative talent pool is impressive. The Portland Development Commission is actively involved in supporting local start ups whether that’s offering free or very low cost rent, infrastructure support, tax abatements, etc. You can’t say that about SF or San Mateo. Moreover, the relo costs are very reasonable. The ability to hire people up from the Bay Area is very easy as well. Don’t forget, the number of Bay Area residents that keep moving to this area daily is outrageous. Don’t believe me? Call Sausalito Moving and Storage and ask them “over the past year, how many SF to PDX relos have you bid on?” The number will blow your mind. Ask yourself this: with their cash, their skills and their experience — do you honestly think you can NOT scale a business in the Portland market? The answer was clearly no given that Sequoia has multiple investments in the area alone. And Jive managed to hire nearly 200 employees here. I’d also like for you to give stats for how many start ups have relocated from here to SF. And then I’d like for you to track their performance once they arrived… While it might’ve made it easier to recruit H1 candidates and made it more convenient for the VC board meetings, it doesn’t work for culture, morale. Personally, relocating to the Portland area has not only increased my top line (raise) but reduced my bottom line (rent is 1/2 what it was in SF for a MUCH better location and home.) Good schools are now free. I don’t get 100.00 parking tickets by the day, my commute time and related expense is 1/2 what it was commuting from SF to SJC each day. I have more time, more money in my pocket and less stress.
Now you tell me if that provide the appropriate incentives. We’ve had ZERO problem recruiting people from well know, venture backed Valley start ups. In fact, most of the mgt team is either from Seattle or SF. Now you tell me, which way the wind is blowing. And btw, if you are laid off in SF, you burn savings at a rate that’s about 2x what you do here. So if you have to be conserve cash, there is no better place to do it than Portland. If you’ve got time on your hands, would rather spend it walking the mean streets of Redwood City — OR — walking among actual Redwoods?
No need to answer that one.
daaaaanm! @ E_Martinez got knocked the F*ck out!
“Those of us who went through the last downturn will remember this: the first companies to let people go are often the ones who survive.”
Or the first companies to let people go don’t know how to manage their budget and shouldn’t have hired so many in the first place.
“Or the first companies to let people go don’t know how to manage their budget and shouldn’t have hired so many in the first place.”
So you’re saying that buying a new building and growing from ~35 to ~200 in a recession year ISN’T a good idea?
@jordan Re: “says the top heavy fat” – if you’re going to attack me directly, please at least use your full (real) name so I know who you are. Anyway, I don’t think any “top heavy fat” of any company would be up at 3AM posting on TechCrunch in defense of their company.
If you have more to say, then use your full name and bring it.
You sound very defensive there lawrence. Do u really believe that top heavy fat posting at 3 am on TC is going to somehow add value to ur position, is that why your doing it? “Look how dedicated i am guys, I’m up late at night posting and defending our company, please don’t let me go”
Why don’t u just concentrate on the survival of your company rather than trying to defend it. By your overreactions to other people’s comments, it sounds like u have something to hide.
@jordan we’re actually a very, very lean company. Furthermore operationally we run the business on the principle of creating profit. The decision to take $20M from Intel was as much as hedge as it was an opportunity to inject some growth capital. This is/was inline with ensuring we build a great business as the first and foremost priority. We just don’t allow top heavy fat.
@Vassil ouch. Lawrence cleared a lot of this up, but we have no plans (or need) to do layoffs.
Jive’s a great competitor and I think it really hurts all the vendors in our market to hear this kind of news.
Aww, now little lawrence has spread the fear to the rest of the top heavy fat “quick guys, defend you job, post late at night on TC to show the value you bring to the company”
Cmon, get on with your real job rather than trying to defend it (and sounding scared at the same time)
…and the troll of the thread award goes to….
lolhead!
This whole thread about Telligent feels ironic now that they have gone through major layoffs and replaced their CEO. We should all beware of hubris. Jive looks pretty smart now as they seem to be doing really well after being one of the first to trim the sails.
It’s gettign better, that what i feel
Jive indeed has SAP as a customer and you can see our community live at https://cw.sap.com we use Clearspace as an invite only community for our customers and partners to co-innovate with SAP.
A lot of Jive customers use Jive’s Clearspace product internally so you will never see the product being used anywhere….
Some of the comments in this article treat these layoffs decisions lightly. Think of yourselves as the CEO of a high tech startup right now and I guarantee that you may not be sleeping much these days.
If the VCs are saying this time is different, you’d better believe it.
I am sad to feel this Deja Vu in less than 8 years of our careers in this industry……
Andre
This article is like blood in the water for other companies in the Ent2.0 space. I would like to hear if the layoffs have made Jive a stronger company or a weaker company. Preferably from someone at Jive instead of supposition from competitors and onlookers.
What amuses me in this long thread of comments is that the most active people on this thread are Jive’s main competitors… The ones who might benefit of them looking weak… I won’t name name, but I wouldn’t be that loud and arrogant in the current economic climate if I were you, neither would I rejoice of the misfortune of a competitor as you might be the next one. Remember, you’re fishing the same pond!
But keep in mind the fact that as said in this post, during the first bubble (and the burst of the 2nd is long overdue), the first companies to let people go are often the ones who survive.
Jive has great software. Everyone here in Portland respects their talent. Google is using Jive’s XMPP framework in their Android phone.
I expect greater things ahead. They have a lot of directions and opportunities to pursue.
Wow, they actually have great software!