Mixercast fires people from it's team in India

01 Jul 2008

I have heard that Mixercast has fired a major part of team in it's development center based in Pune, India.
I can not confirm this news, however, I can say it is from close source.

This is not unusual, I have seen some start-ups seem to be doing this. They bootstrap with a team in India, once they get funded, they start expanding in USA. Expansion is good thing but please don't disrespect the existing team by firing or not giving due credit because you got a team in USA.
That's unfair and it shows, how such start-ups treat people. Equity/rewards are at far end, I see, people are not even treated with respect. From my experience at Mixercast, perhaps this was one of things I felt and that made me move on.

I am not writing this post because of my stock-options issue, though let me take this opportunity to express my feeling, I deserved some credit and respect for what I have done at Mixercast. They couldn't reconsider my case here as I know, they allowed someone else to exercise, even when they guy was fired before vesting period.

Anyway, I don't like, if someone is not treated with respect, specially engineers from India. I know, not all of us are doing as expected but we are learning and getting better day by day. We must consider, India is huge country and thousands of engineers/developers start their career every year, I would say it's companies who need to make sure of quality and make individuals learn what is good and bad during early years of their career. Unfortunately, not all companies think that day, perhaps achieving sales target is the only thing they look at?

I am sure everyone from Mixercast Pune development center would do good, I know them personally and I can say they all are rockstars. Mixercast had 0% attrition rate for first year or more, very rare to see in India.

I am sure none of these events would make them feel low. I wish them all the best.

Update (July 2, 2008): I am not sure whether Mixercast allowed someone to exercise the options before vesting, I was wrong and I should have not posted that particular line without confirmation. I have heard it from very close and reliable source within company, however, I am not sure. I didn't mean to offend anyone hence I have struck that line (sentence) and please accept my apologies for that, hope I don't repeat it. BTW! As someone pointed, I should have proof while ranting, he is right, please accept my apologies again and I didn't mean to offend. My mistake.

Another source says, people are not exactly fired, they have been asked to find a new job because there is not much of work left for them. All these people would get everything (options, etc) - That's great.