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Relocating an Entire Software Engineering Team?
An anonymous reader asks: "I was recently laid off, along with the entire Vancouver Development Centre, from a large network security company. The software engineering team at our office has performed well and is highly cohesive. I was wondering if anyone at Slashdot has been in a similar situation and the probability/prospects of being able to start a new venture with the existing team. I'm sure most understand the importance of a good team, and the time it takes to grow one. Is it worthwhile for the core team to pursue a new venture or should we all just disband and go our separate ways? Where might we find someone with the entrepreneurial mindset to take advantage of this great resource?"
... which was founded by a bunch of SAICers. several former object video employees ended up joining shortly after the company was founded because OV had closed its denver offices and was about to lay them off. so far, it's turned out to be a really good thing for all involved (except object video, whom we now compete with).
the only advice i can offer is make sure you're careful about the non-competes and ndas. other than that, it can end up working out well (as it has for folks in my company).
Myself and two friends left an IT solutions company after being laid off. We all got on somewhere else and interviewed together. We had enough skills on the table between the three of us to convince the employer we could do the job of six-ten people. (Which is what companies want first and foremost.) Now all three of us just got huge raises and a solid contract guaranteeing employment. After ten years in IT, we are finally appreciated.
You're unlikely to find some kindhearted individual/company ready to take on an entire group of people with their associated costs.
However, I would suggest that if they've been saving a bit and aren't living paycheck to paycheck, starting a consulting company and chipping in to hire a sales/marketing person might be a viable alternative. Especially if the team has contacts with customers that could be persuaded to stay with the people they know, instead of your old company.
As always, consult a lawyer before doing anything, and if you signed away your soul in your employment agreement, be careful...
Take a Trireme and sail off to a new island. Take a settler. Press B and start out new.
Disband only if youre in a Democracy and the unit is weighing you down, or if its a very old unit.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of solid advice for you, but I do want to wish you and all of your (former? current?) teammates the best of luck.
:-)
I was laid off back in 2002 in the wake of 9/11 along with a lot of other airline IT folks, and it took a while, but most of us are finally back in the workforce again. A layoff sucks quite a bit, but sometimes the end result is better than where you were.
Again, good luck...
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
If there is you're pretty well (insert explicative). On the other hand, if there is not one I'suggest starting to call some of those customers and see how happy they are with the service being provided by the new, smaller, (and hopefully less responsive) old company. Determine from an economic standpoint what you can realistically afford to charge to cover your expenses and get back on the horse that threw you. My guess is that you can afford as a startup to charge significantly less than the old company did since you're not having to inflate your budget to cover the cost of bigwigs who needed to cut expenses to cover their bonuses in the first place. It's happened before.
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
This security firm is RSA.
A friend of mine works there. They have closed their downtown Vancouver branch and are moving operations to to HQ an India.
He seems to be taking it pretty well, but I feel bad for him since he just started working there a couple of months ago, I think 6 months ago.. and he just graduated last year.
I worked with a team of people who really worked well together. We were able to do some amazing things in very short amounts of time. We had a natural chemistry together. Sadly, the company was not very supportive of our efforts. Management figured that since we were all "high performers" we should be disbanded and put on other teams where we could bring other less than stellar teams up to our level. The frustration of moving from a talented and cohesive team to a team of underperformers was too much for many of us. In the end many people left to pursue other avenues. I myself now work for another company. We keep in touch with each other regularly. We are all hoping that in the near future a company will want to find such a team and we'll all work together again.
mp3's are only for those with bad memories
Vancouver in Washington State or Vancouver, Canada? If Canada, Telus has crap engineers and might well be willing to pay to have people who know what they're doing, but dunno that for sure. If Vancouver WA, then Lightfleet might well be interested - they're on the lookout for high-end developers and I can say for certain that it is going to be tough for them to find the level of skill they want. What's the worst that can happen if you ask?
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Are you sure there's no dead weight on your team (maybe even yourself)?
I will tell you this - several companies I've been involved with, including my current employer, have hired entire teams with skillsets we needed. I've seen displaced teams hired, and I've seen current teams recruited. Here are the important points in selling your team (in my opinion):
Most importantly, though, don't get your hopes up. Finding a job for one person can be difficult enough - placing a whole team is a huge challenge. Consider contacting a few recruiting firms for advice, but don't expect too much. Finally, get your own resumé together, get it out there, and if something really good comes along - take it. Don't hold out forever hoping to place the whole group and pass up opportunities to put food on your table.
Please feel free to e-mail me if you'd like any further advice on this, or if you'd someone to review the "team resumé" I mentioned above. As a senior leader at Fortune 50 company, I have *some* hiring experience (wink!), and I've been on a team that was hired in together before. So, keep some hope - it does happen, rare though it might be.
I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor.
"Adventure? Excitement? A Jedi craves not these things."
What about asking to Y Combinator?
http://ycombinator.com/
I know they usually go with fresh graduated students but it never hurts to ask. I think they are better than a normal VC.
It's certainly doable.
However, you need someone who understands business, sales, accounting, human resource management, etc.
So unless you plan on donating your time to open-source projects, start shopping for an Entrepreneur, and bring a viable Killer App idea with you.
An RSA Conference will take place February 13-17 2006 in San Jose, CA.
;-)
You could all live on unemployment and separation packages for two months, then pool your resources, and rent a booth.
In Nearly All Paradigms, Shift Happens.
FYI. Business Objects is hiring developers to work in their Yaletown office.
e nings_canada.asp
http://businessobjects.com/company/careers/job_op
Anyone else got any leads?
Doesn't matter what it is, just build something around AJAX.
The Mods may not have found you, but I appreciated what you wrote. Ta.
Years ago there was a report of an entire team, that also had been layed off, being placed at a new company by a headhunter, errr placement service. Regretably, I don't recall any details so I cannot cite a reference.
Start a Tim Horton's franchise? Surely there a corner somewhere that doesn't have one yet.
My team has thought about doing it. At least, back when our company was in the rough and it looked possible that layoffs were coming.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
I wish you luck.
I survived Glenayre's implosion and mass layoffs in Vancouver in 2001, and now work for a company that we set up ourselves, initially to support one of Glenayre's old product lines, but also to grow the business in new directions. We're doing well, but not well enough (yet... :-) to hire anybody new.
Certainly not an entire team.
I know of one team who were able to move en masse, but they were very specialized, and still took a while (and several employers) to land on their feet. Others went their separate ways. Some quit the computer biz and went on to other things. It happens.
...laura