Away We Go
Plans, Trains, Automobiles and Dala Dala's (wait what?)
Week two, thanks for sticking around and bearing with me as I figure this whole newsletter business out.
Globally, we had the NATO Summit, an easement in our Trade War with China (keep praying), and the ongoing impeachment inquiry ( I know it’s for the sake of the republic, but part of me would rather watch paint dry than pay attention).
Without further ado, let’s jump in.
The Macro
The Toxic Culture Conundrum. What is it? Well, as we’ve seen recently with companies like Uber and WeWork, incredible growth and earning “unicorn status” doesn’t always correlate with cultivating spectacular company culture.
The latest to join the major league of startups with a toxic culture? Away. Away is a direct-to-consumer luggage company that sells beautifully-designed, multi-functional luggage. It’s a female-founded unicorn led by Steph Korey and Jen Rubio (Jen also happens to be engaged to the founder and CEO of Slack). Jen and Steph first met while working at fellow DTC brand Warby Parker.
The founders have been very popular amongst the media, and rightfully so — they’ve worked hard to build their brand into something that millennials around the world idolize. From simplistic, yet stylish brand design to an Instagram feed inspiring travel envy, Away seems to have it all together.
However, we got a glimpse behind the veil in a recent article put out by Verge. The article revealed that the company’s push to be the very best might have caused more internal damage than anticipated. Now, former employees are looking back and condemning the company’s “toxic” workplace culture.
Long hours with little (and even revoked) time off, bullying by CEO Steph Korey, and public shaming on the company’s Slack channels defined the workplace culture. A screenshot shown in the article showcased a Slack message from Steph referring to team members as “brain-dead” and “millennial twats” after mistakes were made.
The main former employee referenced in the article recalls a firing made after a private Slack channel was discovered for marginalized groups within the Away office. One of Steph’s justifications for letting the African American team members go was in reference to their private Slack message calling out “cis white men” who had disrespected them. Reportedly, Steph referred to the African American team members themselves as “racist” after discovering this message.
Opinion: In today’s world, anything that can be made public, will be made public. More than ever, founders have to be aware that every decision made, every conversation had and every message sent can be used against them at any moment. Let’s get one thing straight — I fully agree that the company culture described in the Verge article is shameful and certainly “toxic” in many aspects. However, when it comes to some of the tactics Steph used to ensure work was being done and was being done well, I couldn’t help but ask myself… was the culture totally toxic or was it just a founder’s attempt to demand the very best?
Globally, startup employees and founders idolize people like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos. People rave about their ingenuity, passion, and obsession with pleasing the consumer. Sometimes, people gloss over their management styles in light of their successes. Jeff Bezos once told an employee that his stupidity “insulted him [Bezos],” and Steve Jobs… well, just read this. Most people would call their management styles “toxic” if they really studied them. But have we considered that, in part, their management styles grew their companies into the size of small nations?
I’m not condoning their treatment of employees or glorifying their management styles, but we cannot dismiss the fact that they are effective and have produced the intended results. I would argue that these CEO’s couldn’t have “gotten away with” their demanding leadership styles had Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook been around when they first started out. Where would those companies be now?
Looking at the Verve article in this light, I wonder if some of Steph’s actions were not the result of her trying to destroy the confidence of her employees or trying to create a culture of fear, but were instead attempts (many of which were poorly executed) to push the company to the heights of say… Amazon, Tesla, or Apple.
To me, this is the Toxic Culture Conundrum. Founders today have to demand the best and execute on every shareholder promise while also showing empathy for each mistake, handling stressful situations with unwavering kindness, and showcasing flawless communication skills. They have to do so knowing anything do can be used against them in the media.
In my opinion, Steph (and any founder) has the right to demand the very best of employees — after all, the employees are part of a startup, which has a different culture than an established company. The stakes are higher at a startup, especially one backed by investors. Steph and Jen worked night and day to build Away into a globally-recognized brand. They should expect a lot from their employees, as working at a unicorn company is a privilege that comes with high demands.
While I hold this to be true, it still begs the question — at what point does customer-obsessiveness go too far? At what point is asking an employee to do whatever it takes to get their work done unreasonably demanding?
I don’t know; I don’t have that answer. Despite mistakes, I personally wouldn't be referring to members of my customer experience team as twats or brain dead… especially when they're dealing with the uncertainty of being the front-line of customer support. I think we all know the pain and embarrassment caused by being publically chastised on a company-wide communication channel in Slack. And I can’t imagine telling marginalized employees they couldn’t share concerns in light of maintaining full company transparency. But… we never know how exactly we would respond if our name was followed by “CEO” and our company was at a critical turning point.
To me, this article is less about defining or revealing a toxic workplace culture and more about the fact that technologies like Slack have made us lazy as leaders, resulting in a lack of trust within companies. Instead of walking down the hall to have the tough conversations in-person, we’re relying on the comforts that platforms like Slack afford us. We can get by with public chastising and blaming, all while feeling empowered behind a computer screen. Where is the trust? Where is the relationship? Technology — and the power that comes with it — has led many unicorn companies to quickly default to negative workplace cultures.
As VC Hunter Walk tweeted the other day, “Giving a shit sometimes is surprisingly often a competitive advantage.” No one can argue with the fact that Steph Korey gave a shit about the success of her company — it is just the way she executed her demands that caused her to take a hit.
Is it better to have someone who cares too much or too little at the head of your company? I would be curious to ask people who worked under Mr. Don’t Give a Shit himself, Adam Neumann, their thoughts on the matter. (I’ve actually met Adam Neumann before, but that’s a story for another time).
As the court of public opinion, let me know your thoughts on the situation.
The Micro
This week we’re talking about mobility in Birmingham. Obviously, it’s been a hot topic as of late — nationwide because of the rise of Uber, Lyft, Bird, Tesla, and a host of self-driving companies like Nuro, May Mobility (which just closed a $50 million round from Toyota) and Cruise.
Those companies are all very innovative, but I want to highlight a new public-private partnership between the city of Birmingham and NYC-based transportation (and Series C startup), Via.
The two came together and implemented a micro-transit network right here in downtown Birmingham. Here’s how it works: much like on-demand apps, you download the Via App, register, and quickly request a ride within a 6.7-mile radius in and around downtown Birmingham. Once requested, a Mercedes Benz van (See below — I snapped that pic right outside my apartment) picks you up and takes you to your destination. Fares are only $1.50.
I’m all for micro-transit and couldn’t be more excited to see how this grows in Birmingham. If all goes well, I’d love to see this implemented in other cities around the Southeast.
Micro-transit networks like this aren’t anything new, and as a matter-of-fact, they’re very popular outside of the United States. In college, I took a trip to Tanzania and saw these “Dala Dala” taxi vans (see below — not taken outside my apartment) picking folks up and dropping them off a couple of miles down the road.
Both the Via/Bham and Dala Dala micro-transit networks were founded as a result of unsatisfactory public transportation options (Birmingham’s public transit ranked 97th in terms of convenience).
Shout-Out: The City of Birmingham, specifically Mayor Randall Woodfin and Josh Carpenter’s Economic Development and Innovation Team. Cities willing to partner and work with innovative tech startups have a special place in the future.
Takeaway: Public transit in the Southeast isn’t really a thing. Public transit in the United States isn’t that great either (unless of course, you live in NYC, DC or San Fran). The beauty of this new deal is that some cities have recognized they can’t make it better alone. That realization has led them to make more innovative bets on technology-driven networks to make public transit more accessible and safer for all.
Must-Reads This Week
Two Book Recommendations this Week for the Must Reads:
Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor, GP at a16z (Andressen Horowitz). If you want to learn VC, you need to start with reading this before you read Venture Deals. I just finished it and it was great.
Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, CEO of the JP Morgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway joint healthcare venture, Haven. He’s also a surgeon and Rhodes Scholar (He’s the Michael Jordan of Life). Anyway… what do doctors, pilots, and civil engineers have in common? They all use a simple checklist. This book explores how a simple checklist can save and impact thousands of lives every day.
This post by Trae Stephens, GP at Founders Fund and Chairman of Anduril. This post can be summed up with one great quote: “American technologists are not required to work on behalf of their nation’s defense, but in choosing not to do so, they must recognize that they are ceding an advantage to illiberal rivals and putting the very freedom and openness that they cherish at risk”. I couldn’t agree more.
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