

Ask HN: What's it like to fire someone at a startup? - brewgardn

Can someone who's fired or been fired talk about the experience? Do these scenes often turn ugly? What's the best way to go about it? What does it feel like for both sides?
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argonaut
I've been on both sides.

1\. Understand that if you're in a situation where you have to fire someone,
_as the manager, it is and was your fault._ Your fault for not seeing at the
beginning that it wasn't a fit, or your fault for taking someone who had
potential and then alienating/de-motivating them along the way. Only with this
mindset can you learn not to repeat the same mistake. It's all too easy to
just chalk things up to "they were a bad employee" - there are certainly cases
where it's not your fault, but I think people tend to vastly underestimate the
number of cases where you actually could have changed the outcome.

2\. Whether or not the situation turns ugly is up to you.

Fire someone unexpectedly and without serious efforts to try to help him/her =
possibly ugly. Diplomatically try and help someone work through their issues
and only then after a few weeks bring up to issue of them leaving = possibly
not ugly.

Fire someone who has a 1 year equity cliff after 9 months on the job and give
them nothing = ugly. Fire someone who has a 1 year equity cliff after 9 months
and give them 9 months of equity + $$ severance in return for signing a
release (talk to your lawyer) = much less ugly.

3\. Feelings vary and I don't have much to say about them.

~~~
brewgardn
What about the current mantras of "fire fast", and "culture fit" as the most
important quality of an employee. It seems like that doesn't lend itself to
working through problems in a deliberate way or taking much responsibilty for
the hiring process. To me, honestly, it sounds like throw a bunch of shit at
the wall as fast you can as see what sticks.

Trendy bullshit advice or truth to it?

~~~
argonaut
How is that inconsistent with any of my advice? The fastest way to get someone
out the door cleanly is to offer a generous severance package.

Culture fit is something you should have selected against when hiring them in
the first place.

