> private equity investments tend to be premised on gaining control of the companies accepting investment and seek return on each investment
Put another way, losing money on a PE deal is terrible. Losing money on fewer than half of one's VC investments is positively great. When FanDuel sold, it didn't have enough upside left to justify pure venture capital. It was a distressed sale whose alternative was closing down shop. In this timeline, employees got a few more years of cash salaries. On the net, they did better with KKR et al than they would have without.
Some people find it hard to get jobs even in a strong tech market, even if they are brilliant due to a variety of circumstances including random chance that is interviews or finding the position in the first place. Blanket statements like this gloss over the human hardships involved for some, and encourages general lack of empathy among our community.
Sorry, it's just I was on mobile. And as someone below pointed out, it was a pretty emotional response for me. Apologies for the unsubstantiated and harsh allegation.
I just really object to how casually OP waved off people losing their jobs.
When you say something that triggers someone’s trauma, often their only choice is between an emotional response and simply keeping quiet and hoping to leave the situation.
The same person at a later time (or someone who has obvserved that trauma second hand) can sometimes form a calm, rational, politically correct depiction of the issue for you.
If you demand the latter, you will learn much slower, because you are rejecting the best available information on what things are traumatic to people.
Employees staying onboard under the assumption that their equity, which is part of their total comp, may yet be worth something - that brings on a serious opportunity cost. If someone stays at FanDuel making $160k/yr + $0 in common stock options versus $350k/yr at Google, that's a shame. If 100+ employees do it, it's tens of millions of dollars of opportunity cost.
> If someone stays at FanDuel making $160k/yr + $0 in common stock options versus $350k/yr at Google, that's a shame.
That kind of position at Google is one of the hardest to get in the industry. While I wouldn't label this attitude as "toxic", the idea that people from any random startup can just go get a $350k job at Google if it fails is detrimental to this industry. I doubt most of those working for FanDuel (or anywhere else, really) could clear that bar. Not to mention, Google has a limited capacity to absorb people, so the more who apply the higher the bar gets.
Put another way, losing money on a PE deal is terrible. Losing money on fewer than half of one's VC investments is positively great. When FanDuel sold, it didn't have enough upside left to justify pure venture capital. It was a distressed sale whose alternative was closing down shop. In this timeline, employees got a few more years of cash salaries. On the net, they did better with KKR et al than they would have without.