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Startups and Trust ~ a complex combination. . .

August 5, 2008

I would be willing to bet (assuming your name isn’t George Bush) that none of of your co-workers or employees would be willing to stand between you and the line of fire.  I contend that you can’t rely on people to ‘do the right thing’ when their job is on the line.  Life isn’t like a television series or a movie, more and more people live paycheck to paycheck and any disruption in their job/career could be devastating.  Why am I bringing this up?  It is important to understand that your ‘work-friends’ are not your high school buddies or battlefield brothers in arms.  No one is going to take a bullet for you, acts of selfless courage are the exception not the rule.  Don’t expect it and plan for what seems like betrayal.  I don’t mean to come across as negative or as paranoid as I may seem.  Let me put my advice in context and tell you about my own experience.

Are you thinking about starting a business, but aren’t ready to quit your day job?  Join the club.  When I came up with the idea for LayerOne I was working full time for a major telecom company.  I hooked up with a colleague and we started the company.  When my manager’s manager found out I was immediately fired.  As an employer I completely understand his action, he didn’t have much of a choice.  Of course as an entrepreneur I wanted a chance to explain why my startup was synergistic with my role at the telecom company (i.e. it solved one of our major problems).  I didn’t get a chance to explain, but that isn’t the point of my post.  At the time I was devastated, not for losing my job, but because at least three people betrayed me (two that I trusted explicitly and one that I thought I was casual friends with).  Over time I realized that I wasn’t betrayed, but instead these people were acting in what they felt were their own best interests.

The whole incident happened when my manager, who happened to be my colleague’s brother-in-law was out of town on business.  He knew about our ’startup’ and gave us approval because it would improve his sales numbers, of course we needed to keep our activities discrete.  My partner and I managed different territories, but we worked very closely on several accounts.  Our peer, who was more of a sales person than either of us, knew about our little operation and evidently was jealous.  He may have even thought that it would negatively impact his own sales numbers (I know this after talking to him years later).  That week, while I was at lunch he took my company laptop, which had a number of ‘incriminating emails’ on it (i.e. LayerOne stuff) and showed it to my manager’s manager.  The manager called my colleague and me into his office and confronted me.

I had several quick decisions to make.  First, should I try to explain that my manager knew and had approved of my ’side-business’?  I might avoid getting fired, but I suspect manager’s career wouldn’t have been helped.  Second, I wondered if I should mention that my partner was my colleague?  Between the two of us we were generating more than 75% of the sales for the branch; could he really afford to get rid of both of us?  Maybe not that day, but I suspected that he would end of firing both of us once he had replacements (and everyone is replaceable).  Finally I decided, my face beat red, that I would take 100% of the bullet and instead of feeling sorry for myself I would make my side-business, my real business.  It was a huge step, but it only took me five minutes to take.

Later that day I started to second guess my decision.  I was pissed that my colleague stood silently as I was fired.  He didn’t try to defend me, he didn’t acknowledge his role or the fact that his brother-in-law had approved our little operation.  Once my manager learned that I was terminated he didn’t mention to his manager that a) he knew about our operation or b) he approved it as it increased his sales.  He simply apologized to me, suggesting he wished he could have been there.  To stand silently by as I was terminated?  I was angry, but I kept my anger to myself.  As time passed I realized that everyone was simply practicing CYA; loyalty doesn’t enter into the question when a) your wife is pregnant, b) you are buying a new house and c) you can’t find another job.  Could I blame them?  No, but I learned an important lesson ~ trust people, but trust them to act in their own best interest.  This isn’t to say that some people act in selfless ways, but don’t count on it ~ be pleasantly surprised.

Ultimately I hired my colleague, my manager and even the sales guy who turned me in to work for LayerOne.  In doing so I was able to put my original anger and frustration behind me.  I still had not learned the lesson I am trying to express in this post ~ “You can’t rely on people to ‘do the right thing’ when their job is on the line.” Remember my colleague? A couple of years later he had one more chance for redemption.  He knew that one of our board members was lobbying to get me fired, but instead of telling me he kept quiet.  I shouldn’t have been surprised, he simply acted in his own best interest once again.  Most people act out of a sense of fear, not out of a sense of abundance.  As an entrepreneur you are almost predisposed to exploiting risk, but as an employee you are trained to stay out of trouble, keep your nose clean and not to rock the boat.  The good news that being an entrepreneur is hard and isn’t well suited for most people.  I hope this post is helpful, I am afraid it is too long and somehow doesn’t capture exactly what I am looking to offer.

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog, Startups 

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