Nicolas and Alina's letter to Pipers

November 17, 2022
min to read

Nicolas and Alina's letter to Pipers

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November 17, 2022
min to read

Today is a hard day for the Chili Piper community.

We have made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team by 58 Pipers. We’ve always done everything we could to avoid layoffs, and this is the first time we’ve made such a painful decision. 

It hurts to have to take this step, and we (Nicolas and Alina) take full responsibility for the decisions leading up to it.

First, some context

Around one year ago, investors and the market began to urge tech companies to reduce their workforce. 

We were actually experiencing record growth. So of course we resisted that call.

We believed in our people. We believed in our business. And we believed by investing in our people, it would pay off in the long run.  

We see a huge opportunity ahead of us to transform the world of inbound and we hired across all departments to fulfill this vision. Given the huge ROI our products provide, we were confident that our record growth would continue.

This proved to be overly optimistic. 

When layoffs began occurring across the industry, it cut into our expected revenue from expansion within our customer base. While our logo retention never wavered, the reduction in user licenses and hiring freezes at our customers’ companies increased customer acquisition costs for us and for those across the tech industry. 

As a result, we made the decision this week with our board that we must reduce the size of our team. The main reason for this decision is that we need to dial in the ratio of spending on revenue-generating activities to the income our business is bringing in. In other words, reduce our burn rate.

We recently took 180 Pipers on our annual company trip, this year in Morocco. In hindsight, it might seem like the reason for the layoffs was irresponsible spending on trips like this. But the reality is that this trip has a relatively marginal impact on our finances but a huge impact on our nonviolent culture.

How we’re supporting Pipers

Our single focus for the rest of this week is to support our departing Pipers and accompany them in their transition. 

Here are some actions we are taking in terms of immediate financial support and in acknowledgement of Piper’s contribution and dedication:

  • Severance Pay: We are providing two months' severance to all employees impacted
  • No Equity Cliff: We are removing the equity cliff for all departing employees. They will have access to the equity they’ve earned during their time here, no matter how long they have been with us
  • Extended Vesting: We are enabling all those impacted to continue to vest their equity through the end of Q1 2023 so that everyone benefits from the future success of our company
  • Delayed Exercise Period: We will delay the exercise period through which our team can purchase their shares. All employees will be able to delay this decision for up to three years 
  • Healthcare: All employees will receive healthcare through the end of the year

For everyone who is hiring, this is good news — there are now 58 incredibly strong leaders and contributors in SaaS on the market. Everyone that is a Piper shows an extremely high professional capacity and grit, and we envy the companies that get to experience their talents next. Here's an active list of all the Pipers that are currently seeking employment. Scoop them up while you can! 

Today we are sending our deepest appreciation to all our departing Pipers. Once you’re a Piper, you’re always a Piper — and we’ll do everything we can to help you land on your feet.

-Nicolas and Alina

Today is a hard day for the Chili Piper community.

We have made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team by 58 Pipers. We’ve always done everything we could to avoid layoffs, and this is the first time we’ve made such a painful decision. 

It hurts to have to take this step, and we (Nicolas and Alina) take full responsibility for the decisions leading up to it.

First, some context

Around one year ago, investors and the market began to urge tech companies to reduce their workforce. 

We were actually experiencing record growth. So of course we resisted that call.

We believed in our people. We believed in our business. And we believed by investing in our people, it would pay off in the long run.  

We see a huge opportunity ahead of us to transform the world of inbound and we hired across all departments to fulfill this vision. Given the huge ROI our products provide, we were confident that our record growth would continue.

This proved to be overly optimistic. 

When layoffs began occurring across the industry, it cut into our expected revenue from expansion within our customer base. While our logo retention never wavered, the reduction in user licenses and hiring freezes at our customers’ companies increased customer acquisition costs for us and for those across the tech industry. 

As a result, we made the decision this week with our board that we must reduce the size of our team. The main reason for this decision is that we need to dial in the ratio of spending on revenue-generating activities to the income our business is bringing in. In other words, reduce our burn rate.

We recently took 180 Pipers on our annual company trip, this year in Morocco. In hindsight, it might seem like the reason for the layoffs was irresponsible spending on trips like this. But the reality is that this trip has a relatively marginal impact on our finances but a huge impact on our nonviolent culture.

How we’re supporting Pipers

Our single focus for the rest of this week is to support our departing Pipers and accompany them in their transition. 

Here are some actions we are taking in terms of immediate financial support and in acknowledgement of Piper’s contribution and dedication:

  • Severance Pay: We are providing two months' severance to all employees impacted
  • No Equity Cliff: We are removing the equity cliff for all departing employees. They will have access to the equity they’ve earned during their time here, no matter how long they have been with us
  • Extended Vesting: We are enabling all those impacted to continue to vest their equity through the end of Q1 2023 so that everyone benefits from the future success of our company
  • Delayed Exercise Period: We will delay the exercise period through which our team can purchase their shares. All employees will be able to delay this decision for up to three years 
  • Healthcare: All employees will receive healthcare through the end of the year

For everyone who is hiring, this is good news — there are now 58 incredibly strong leaders and contributors in SaaS on the market. Everyone that is a Piper shows an extremely high professional capacity and grit, and we envy the companies that get to experience their talents next. Here's an active list of all the Pipers that are currently seeking employment. Scoop them up while you can! 

Today we are sending our deepest appreciation to all our departing Pipers. Once you’re a Piper, you’re always a Piper — and we’ll do everything we can to help you land on your feet.

-Nicolas and Alina

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