

 Ex-Zynga Employees Tell All on Reddit - antfarm
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100791796

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peter_l_downs
Actual Reddit AMA link:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1fpbv1/i_was_one_of_th...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1fpbv1/i_was_one_of_the_520_people_laid_off_by_zynga&#x2F);

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djKianoosh
thanks for the link.. interesting answer here:

"Artists, you don't need a degree. You need talent.

Designers, you need experience and connections. Education helps, but
experience is best.

Programmers, you need talent and the ability to prove your worth, socially.
(Many lack skills in communication and social etiquette.) Education is great,
but acceptability (within a team) is best.

Producers, you need exceptional communication and organizational talents.
Education is good, but managerial talents are best."

Rings true across many industries.

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jfisk87
as a current employee, his responses rang very true. Rough week :(

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michaelochurch
To Zynga's credit, they had an honest layoff, with severance and a press
release (so peoples' reputations don't get burned). Most tech startups hide a
layoff in stack-ranking and so-called "performance improvement plans", which
additionally humiliate people on the way out and are used as an excuse not to
give severance.

I'm not a fan of Zynga-- their games are garbage, and the equity clawback was
vicious-- but it sounds like they did the right thing here.

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mansigandhi
I agree. I was pleasantly surprised.

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nateguchi
...The start up years have finished and Zynga needs to grow up and deliver

