I agree, but also with the caveat that the union has to be good. And I think that was a significant issue here which is that there isn't union know how about how to organize and operate in a pre-IPO, pre-profit, pre-critical-mass startup.
Anyone who has worked at startups knows that there are ways workers get screwed that are specific to startups. The whole idea of liquidation preference for example is nutty given that a 1x return doesn't change a fund's dynamics but does rob employees of a meaningful chunk of cash.
But then the other dynamic is that there is both a very real chance of the company failing and everyone losing their jobs and of the need for some people to lose their jobs in order for everyone else to keep them.
I think unions could work in pre-IPO startups if they were aligned with the IPO. There would still be a lot to bargain for and they could help soften the downside of failure while chiseling off more equity for the staff.
But this unionization effort didn't seem particularly savvy about the dynamics of being pre-IPO. For example getting busted by "investors might not want to invest if this succeeds" is not a particularly savvy way to go down. I wouldn't want people bargaining on my behalf who hadn't proactively predicted that concern and countered it.
But that's not particularly a knock on Medium's organizers. I just think this is an area of unionization that hasn't been invented yet and it would have benefited from people who saw it that way.
I agree, but also with the caveat that the union has to be good. And I think that was a significant issue here which is that there isn't union know how about how to organize and operate in a pre-IPO, pre-profit, pre-critical-mass startup.
Anyone who has worked at startups knows that there are ways workers get screwed that are specific to startups. The whole idea of liquidation preference for example is nutty given that a 1x return doesn't change a fund's dynamics but does rob employees of a meaningful chunk of cash.
But then the other dynamic is that there is both a very real chance of the company failing and everyone losing their jobs and of the need for some people to lose their jobs in order for everyone else to keep them.
I think unions could work in pre-IPO startups if they were aligned with the IPO. There would still be a lot to bargain for and they could help soften the downside of failure while chiseling off more equity for the staff.
But this unionization effort didn't seem particularly savvy about the dynamics of being pre-IPO. For example getting busted by "investors might not want to invest if this succeeds" is not a particularly savvy way to go down. I wouldn't want people bargaining on my behalf who hadn't proactively predicted that concern and countered it.
But that's not particularly a knock on Medium's organizers. I just think this is an area of unionization that hasn't been invented yet and it would have benefited from people who saw it that way.