see video here https://firstround.wistia.com/medias/375ngv11g4 All rights owned by Angus Davis. https://twitter.com/angusdav

1. The Taboo Topic of How to Do a Layoff
C E O
SUMMIT
2015

2. C E O
SUMMIT
2015
01 50

3. Why?
• Change in go-to-market (e.g. outside vs. inside sales)
• Change in service delivery (e.g. outsourcing support)
• Merger results in redundant staff (e.g. your CFO)
• Exiting a product or market (e.g. Glitch to Slack)
FRI4.WK 1.WK THU01 50 2.WK5.WK

4. Timeline: do this quickly
March 27
Decision
to act
April 8
Tell Board
April 15
Draft Plan
w CFO,
Talent
April 27
Talk to some
managers
May 4
Implement RIF
FRI4.WK 1.WK THU01 50 2.WK5.WK

5. Understand your problem
Tripled in 12 mos
• Wow!
• But, CAC
payback long
• Direct sales
strategy not
ramping as
planned, despite
significant
investment
• Burn above plan
• “Houston, we
have a problem”
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6. You only want to do this once
Risk urge to cut too little in
“hope” things improve. Doing
this twice (like we did at Tellme)
destroys morale and damages
trust in leadership. Cut deeper
than you think you need.
Hope is not
a strategy
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7. Do your job as CEO
Do not wait for the board to tell you what to do.
You’re the CEO; it’s your job to recommend a RIF
A RIF is about changing strategy, not just cutting $
Know when to make a change in context of your business metrics (e.g.
CAC ratio, burn vs. plan, MAUs, etc.)
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8. Chris, Sean & Josh,
In prep for our board meeting Wednesday, attached please find:
1. Board deck (I will make some more additions before the mtg, but this is the core of the
update)
2. Board minutes for your approval from the Feb 11 board meeting.
Agenda / strategic discussion preview:
"TLDR" version - I recommend we aggressively cut spend / burn to extend our runway and
buy time to implement necessary changes to our growth strategy with new sales
leadership.
As I have been updating you over the last several weeks, we continue to work through
challenges we began seeing in Q4. [ ... ]
difficulty [ ... ]
difficulty training new sales personnel to simply "scale up" historical performance
across a larger team,
weak [ ... ] contribution to direct sales pipeline, and
insufficient [ ... ] to contribute adequate pipeline to feed the [ ... ] team's rising target
The deeper I dive into sales, the more I see a need to change our sales management and
approach to put ourselves in a position to successfully scale up in a sound, predictable way.
about:blank
Talk with board about your
decision
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April 8 Board Meeting

9. Step 1: Build your new
operating plan
• Model new plan around strategy change
• Target a $ amount by which to reduce burn
• Design plan around roles, not people
• Model a transition dip in productivity
• Account for severance, PTO + other costs
• Don’t plan for perfection in your new plan
FRI SAT SUN4.WK 1.WK THU4.WK01 50 2.WK5.WK

10. ws1q`
2: Staff your plan
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11. Who do you re-draft?
A: Let the data decide
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12. Who do you re-draft?
A: Trust your managers
You don’t need to say, “We’re doing a RIF.” You may
get a more honest answer by asking, “If you were
building this team from scratch…”
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13. Plan to do it early in the week
• Gives employees who remain time to see things are
OK / normal - “Life goes on.”
• Allows management to reinforce key messages
• Eliminates time spent alone on weekends thinking
negatively, browsing LinkedIn, job boards, etc.
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14. Finalize plan, educate board
FRI SAT SUN 08 15 09 1THU01 50 5.WK 4.WK 1.WK2.WK

15. Begin to broaden tent
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• Most important, complete “re-drafting” process
by engaging key managers where needed
• If a role change is contemplated, “re-hire” the
person for the new role
• Prepare security with IT team, facilities
• Avoid rumors!!

16. Plan meetings, distribute load
to get it done in 2 hours
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17. Prepare managers well
Have an FAQ Give them a script
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18. Give managers a FAQ / talking
points for unaffected colleagues
• The audience here are folks you
want to retain, not those laid off
• This is the most important
document you will write
• Setup managers to win in 1:1 and
team meetings
• Anticipate the most direct, frank
questions and answer them
succintly
• It is OK for answers to be repetitive
- employees need to hear the same
message
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19. Example FAQ questions
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20. Write letters of recommendation
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21. Rehearse with managers
FRI SUN 08 15 09 15 11 30 12 00 14THU.WK 4.WK 2.WK 1.WK SAT
• Do this in a group “We’re all in this
together” / “I am not alone”
• Role play with talent team
• Discuss who will address questions
(example: benefits Q’s for HR)
• As CEO, use this opportunity to
reassure managers and empathize
• Review the materials + timeline
• Meet on Saturday, reduce gossip

22. Employees out of the office?
• Do it in person if at all possible
• Meet in a private part of a public place, with
employee’s back to the room
• Sometimes these will be 1:1 (ordinarily 2:1)
• Consider timing … stay in control of your
communications plan
• Follow-up immediately via email with materials
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23. Morning of
• As CEO, personally thank your IT and HR teams
• Make sure they know you understand how difficult
this is for them
• Prepare yourself mentally + emotionally
• Be prepared to personally handle a delicate meeting
the morning of, outside the office, e.g. breakfast
• Begin by re-hiring your team who WON’T be affected
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24. Managers invite each affected
person
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25. If one team is impacted
heavily, re-hire keepers first
• “I have some difficult news to share with you.”
• Message: change in strategy, people will be affected
• What this means: you were hand-picked because you are
critical to success of our new strategy, and you’re setup to
win
• Tell them next couple hours will be difficult …
• Why? Eliminate fear from retained staff, engage in strategy
• Remember, your priority must be those who remain…
FRI 11 30 12 00 14 00THU 17 00K SAT SUN 09 1508 15

26. The Meeting
• Be quick, be human, be honest
• Have a second person with you, ideally HR
• A clock + kleenex in the room is helpful
• Sit the person facing in, back to door
• Explain the person should gather her things, say
goodbyes, and head home.
• Depending on culture, expect some tears and hugs.
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27. All clear … Now, invite your
team to All Hands
FRI 12 00 14 00HU 17 00SAT SUN 08 15 09 15 11 30

28. All Hands Meeting
RI 11 30 14 00 17 00SAT SUN 08 15 09 15 12 00

29. You may be pleasantly
surprised
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30. Communicate Externally
11 30 17 00AT SUN 08 15 09 15 12 00 14 00
Update your board
Handle Press

31. Don’t make $10+ million
mistake Tellme did in 2001

32. Epilogue

33. The strategy is working
Tripled rep productivity
nearly immediately, and
sustained improvement

34. 34
72%
80%
92% 93% 86% 87%
67%
89% 92% 91%
75% 73%
6% 0% 1% 0% 0% 3% 9% 3% 2% 0%
11% 7%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall
I would recommend
Swipely as a great
place to work.
I take pride in telling
people that I work at
Swipely.
Our vision for the
future is both exciting
and compelling
Swipely motivates
me to go beyond
what I would in a
similar role
elsewhere.
I believe our product
is both engaging and
helps local
businesses succeed.
Swipely
energizes me
to do great
work almost
every day.
Agree Neutral Disagree
Overall Engagement: 86% (+5%)

35. THEN - Spring 2015: Engagement Gap (Overall vs. Female / Male)
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
I would recommend Swipely
as a great place to work.
I take pride in telling people
that I work at Swipely.
Our vision for the future
is both exciting and compelling
I am motivated to make an impact
above and beyond the min.
expectations for success
I believe our product is
both engaging and helps local
businesses succeed.
Swipely energizes me
to do great work
almost every day.
0.79
0.92
0.74
0.86
0.93
0.81
0.66
0.93
0.55
0.86
0.91
0.57
0.75
0.92
0.67
0.86
0.92
0.72
ORG F M
NOW - Fall 2015: Engagement Gap
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
I would recommend Swipely
as a great place to work.
I take pride in telling people
that I work at Swipely.
Our vision for the future
is both exciting and compelling
I am motivated to make an impact
above and beyond the min.
expectations for success
I believe our product is
both engaging and helps local
businesses succeed.
Swipely energizes me
to do great work
almost every day.
0.75
0.90.880.86
0.94
0.8
0.7
0.910.91
0.87
0.91
0.78
0.73
0.910.890.87
0.93
0.8
ORG F M
Gender Gaps in Engagement: Then & Now

36. New Tech vs. Swipely
0
25
50
75
100
Recommend,
great place to work
Motivated to go above
and beyond
Proud to work
for company
OVERALL
86
9389
80
65
80
53
73 71
87
70
83
“New Tech” Everyone Else Swipely

37. And now, at 1:50 am … I’m asleep.
C E O
SUMMIT
2015