TBH, every time I think of Zynga employees I think of that discussion in Clerks where they discuss contractors that went to work on the Death Star. That discussion is directly applicable here. There are good people working at Zynga, but they cast their lot in with Zynga, choosing to accept the salary, stock and options offered. They knew the risk. They knew what kind of company they went to work for. The upside on the stock was great because the executives were effective mercenaries. They failed to take into account the downside due to the fact that those executives were effective mercenaries.
I once worked for a guy who turned out to be a scumbag willing to screw anyone out of a dollar. Once I realized that I left because although there was financial upside there, I also knew there was risk of being dicked over eventually by him as well.
If you don't own a controlling share of equity and the owners think short term, then you really can't be surprised when something happens with the cap table, valuations and offers that dicks you over as a minority shareholder.
I recall back in the day that many people were offered X number of stocks without ever understanding what percent that raw number of stocks/options represented. That was a massive sign that rank-and-file employees would be among those they are willing to dick over.
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TBH, every time I think of Zynga employees I think of that discussion in Clerks where they discuss contractors that went to work on the Death Star. That discussion is directly applicable here. There are good people working at Zynga, but they cast their lot in with Zynga, choosing to accept the salary, stock and options offered. They knew the risk. They knew what kind of company they went to work for. The upside on the stock was great because the executives were effective mercenaries. They failed to take into account the downside due to the fact that those executives were effective mercenaries.
I once worked for a guy who turned out to be a scumbag willing to screw anyone out of a dollar. Once I realized that I left because although there was financial upside there, I also knew there was risk of being dicked over eventually by him as well.
If you don't own a controlling share of equity and the owners think short term, then you really can't be surprised when something happens with the cap table, valuations and offers that dicks you over as a minority shareholder.
I recall back in the day that many people were offered X number of stocks without ever understanding what percent that raw number of stocks/options represented. That was a massive sign that rank-and-file employees would be among those they are willing to dick over.