February 10, 2021
BYE, BYE, BYE
Saying goodbye is never easy ā but when your first employee says farewell, it can be downright difficult! And that goes double if thereās noĀ employee offboarding processĀ in place.
So, what exactly is an offboarding process? Plainly put, it's the opposite ofĀ onboarding. Meaning, instead of the official warm welcome, the offboarding process acts as the formal farewell between your company and your employee.Ā
And it works to tie up any loose ends that might make the transition harder. Finishing up final projects, documenting any uncaptured knowledge, and the actual send-off included.
Similar to onboarding, this process should beĀ standardized. Otherwise, what might be a seamless experience for one team member, might feel more like a bad breakup for someone else.Ā
But I get it ā why invest in someone who is just going to leave anyway? Because the reality is how you part ways with your employees is just as important as how you onboard them. And it can drastically change how your remaining team members view your company overnight.Ā
šĀ Snag the best offboarding process (from start to finish).
THE FOUNDING STORY
HubSpot just acquired a media company (specifically, The Hustle newsletter) for a speculatedĀ $27M. But stakeholdersĀ dispute this number. This makes HubSpot the first software company to acquire a media company.Ā
But, as a growing startup ourselves, weāre way more interested in how The Hustle scaled into something acquisition-ready thanĀ the details of the deal. So, hereās how The Hustle got here.Ā
Imagine it's 2014. Soon to be Hustle founderĀ Sam ParrĀ read the CNN founder Ted Turnerās bio. And it inspired a weird but simple idea. He would build a huge newsletter following, then use profits to build new products (AKA create more content).Ā
Then, in 2015, the idea started taking shape. PerĀ The Hustle, they launched āa dinky little blog." And a few months later, the real dream started when the first daily newsletter was sent.
This newsletter was totally free to users. And it used ads to help keep the content free (a business model that the media company would help popularize in the coming years).Ā
Fast-forward to 2017. After years of sending a daily news roundup, the Hustle daily email Ā had bragging rights to 100k subscribers. And by 2019, they hit 1M. (Not to mention their team scaled to roughly 100 people.)
It was finally time to fully see that Day 1 dream come true with the launch of their first paid product (enter Trends). Within a few months, the new paid newsletter hit 10k subscribers. And the daily newsletter skyrocketed to a whopping 1.5M.Ā
Throughout this journey, tons of companies tried to buy The Hustle (after all, it was a raging success). But Sam said, "sorry, not interested." That is until HubSpot knocked on his door (well, probably dropped him a line).Ā
Then, it happened. Last week to be exact. Sam announcedĀ via his personal TwitterĀ that HubSpot officially owned The Hustle.Ā But with the deal now finalized, what's next for the newsletter?Ā
Moving forward, the SaaS company promises to keep the company āweirdā and "coolā - all while putting way more resources behind it. AKA if you're a subscriber and missed the announcement, you might not have known the difference.Ā
šĀ Get all the deets of the acquisition.
NEW DATA
Pre-pandemic, the Bay Area was a start-up country. And it was the top choice for nearlyĀ 42% of foundersĀ in terms of where to start a business.Ā
Other cities - like New York and Seattle - dwindled far behind at second best. And a distributed company was only favorable for a mere 6%.Ā
Only a year later (not to go off on this again), a lot has changed. Now,Ā only about 28%Ā of founders still see the Bay Area as "the place" to launch a venture. But more than 40% (and counting) favor a remote-first firm over a physical HQ.
Meaning, bets are hot that weāll see more decentralized companies soon - and fewer venture-backed businesses in the Bay Area because of this. (Plus, the recent San FranciscoĀ mass exodusĀ seems to back this up.)
šĀ See the full study.
THE REAL WINNER
If youāve ever wondered why you donāt get more [insert demographic here] in your pipeline, this oneās for you!Ā
BackedĀ - the human-centric European VC fund - invested heavily (no pun intended) in increasing opportunities for diverse talent in their industry. And now, theyāre sharing their process with all businesses.Ā
Here are a few of their top DE&I plays:Ā
šĀ Get the complete DE&I playbook.
TL:DR