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We Paid 20% Of Our Employees $25,000 To Quit

We Paid 20% Of Our Employees $25,000 To Quit

Last month, I made an offer to everyone at our company: $25,000 to quit. 

6 people took it.

But, why?

Because I fucked up. I'm sharing the story to be open about what happened, why I did it, and maybe it can be helpful to others going through a similar situation. We did this at a time when things are really starting to happen. We just passed 2m identities on XMTP, bought the biggest consumer app on top of the protocol, have raised $50m in total, and the world needs a decentralized and secure messaging protocol more than ever.

This happened because I changed the deal after people joined. I tried to lure people from Big Tech, promising a better place to work. A more sane startup. A startup more like your big tech job. I wasn't clear enough up front on the values and expectations that we needed to win. If anything, I oversold people on a culture that wasn’t the reality.

We had to change it, or we wouldn’t be here to take care of anyone in the future. We were on a road to failure—a long, slow, winding road. So…

  • We rewrote our values and codified our culture. I needed to be way more clear on why to be here. Here's a specific update we made to our culture guide:
    • XMTP is built for everyone, so we can’t exclude anyone. We are here because we believe everyone in the world deserves a secure way to communicate - one that is free from control, surveillance or ownership by any single entity. For that to be possible, we cannot impose our ideologies or beliefs onto our global community. People work here because they believe in secure communication for everyone in the world. We focus on what unites us, rather than our differences. We champion causes directly aligned with our core goals and mission and steer clear of those that do not.
  • We raised the hiring bar for skill, passion, and execution - radically focusing on the specific expertise needed to win.
  • We sharpened our strategy to be even more ambitious and require more velocity.
  • We worked hard to be clear on our expectations going forward. 

Read the full updated culture guide here. 

Radical Ownership

We also focused on the radical ownership needed within our team. 

I shared this on the all-hands with our team to make sure I was very clear on what ownership looks like:

If you're sitting here wondering what you should work on, this probably isn't the right company for you. 

I knew it sounded harsh. But I needed people to hear the reality of what it takes to be successful here. Both as an individual and for our company. There are many great companies for people who want to develop in their careers and go slower with more guidance. We don't have the privilege to do that at this stage, and being unclear about this was causing pain to both the company and our team members.

I knew some people didn't sign up for this, and we needed a way to take care of the people who didn't want to be here anymore.

That’s why we offered everyone $25,000 to quit and our full support to move on.

It will get harder before it gets easier - conviction is required to be successful here.

Building the world's most secure and decentralized messaging network is a massive mission. Our mission matters, and you must care about it to work here. The work is too important to be just another stop in someone's career. Be here because you deeply care and give a shit, or don't be here. 

This also must be a dream team, playing at a world-class level.

What Did We Do?

Our goal was to make people feel supported to move on if this is no longer the mission, company, or team that they want to be on. And take care of them if they decide to move on. 

We offered $25,000 to anyone who wanted to leave and another $25,000 for each subsequent year of tenure. 

We wanted people to feel supported to move on and ensure no one stays at the company who doesn't want to be here. We also wanted to be fair and generous to everyone. 

What surprised me most were the messages I received from both the people who quit and the people who stayed. The people who quit sent me the nicest messages I'd ever received. The people who stayed were more fired up than ever.

The only regret I have is that I didn't do this sooner.

How We Quit Matters

I've always believed how people quit matters, both for the company and the employee. It doesn't have to be a bad situation, and when it's done with respect and honesty, you end up with champions who want to support you and lifelong friendships that transcend any company. 

I'm grateful for the work and courage of everyone who decided to accept the offer. I hope that each one of them finds their dream job next. I'll always be here for anything. I'm sorry for getting to this point. This was my fault. 

A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity 

For everyone staying... we have the opportunity of a lifetime and one of the most difficult yet rewarding challenges ahead of us. This can be the place that defines your entire career. That’s why to be here. That's why I'm here.

We are more focused than ever. We just raised another $25m in capital, $50m total. We know what we do and what we don't do. We are a team working on the world's most challenging, ambitious, and technical problems. 

Our mission is simple: To create an open and secure messaging network that will last forever. 

  • That exists for all of humanity.
  • That is decentralized. 
  • That is private and secure.

The world needs an open, secure, and decentralized communication platform. One that everyone can trust to build on and use. We need to make using crypto as easy as sending a message.

If you want to work alongside people doing the best work of their careers, this team could be for you. 

The “Mature Startup” Fallacy

I used to say we were building a "mature startup," but my definition of what that means has changed over the past couple of years:

Building a "mature startup" is probably more about having people who are aware of how hard it is to build a startup and the sacrifice it takes to win versus the idea that a startup should be more sane or similar to a regular corporate job. Only do a startup because you deeply care about the problem. And you want to win.

Let's win and build a team that can win.

We are always looking to build our bench of phenomenal talent, so check out our job openings or tell us why you are the right person for this challenge. 

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Jamie Larson
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