[HN Gopher] The business of winding down startups is booming
___________________________________________________________________
The business of winding down startups is booming
Author : mooreds
Score : 65 points
Date : 2024-02-27 17:24 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pitchbook.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (pitchbook.com)
| saagarjha wrote:
| > [T]he work of dissolving a company is exceptionally unpleasant.
| It is also, by definition, zero-value to the founder, the
| company, and the world
|
| Only if your view of value is how much money you can make off of
| it, sure. If your startup had some nice tech for example it's
| always nice to see that get released when it dissolves. The
| people who worked there likewise have a bunch of experience from
| working on whatever it is your company did.
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| When these offices close, I assume they liquidate all of the
| office furniture, computers, etc.
|
| How do I find and purchase some of this stuff? I would happily
| pick up a discounted Herman Miller, tables, whatever other
| nonsense that might be up for grabs.
|
| Or is it all sold to bulk retailers who subdivide it out? Recycle
| to the next startup?
| pfdietz wrote:
| The SV ecosystem has long had firms that handle that stuff and
| make it available to new startups.
| anon291 wrote:
| just look for auction houses in your area. You don't have to
| buy these from tech companies. I'm signed up with a few local
| ones and I get notifications whenever there's a business going-
| out-of-business auction. I've gotten weights, computer parts,
| chairs, etc.
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| My prior assumption is that tech companies with stupid
| funding levels are the most likely to splurge on glitzy
| equipment. Regular businesses not looking for an exit likely
| have fewer great finds.
| gedy wrote:
| Everytime my companies have done a fancy building remodel,
| they fall apart after this. It's like corporate version of
| jumping the shark
| Scoundreller wrote:
| Gotta get a bit suspicious when any org pivots from their
| product being the product to their appearance being the
| product.
|
| I guess sometimes it works.
| bombcar wrote:
| You'd be surprised, the local auction companies can be
| worth keeping an eye on.
|
| Smaller companies never get there, and just kind of
| disappear; if you have ears to the ground you can learn
| about them (helps to know commercial real-estate managers).
| saagarjha wrote:
| https://svdisposition.com/auctions
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| I am sitting in a Herman Miller Aeron chair acquired during the
| ~2000 dot com bust at auction for next to nothing. Highly
| recommend.
| organsnyder wrote:
| I got my Aeron from a local company that must have been
| downsizing. I went and picked it up from their office, and it
| was depressing looking at all of the empty desks (this was
| pre-COVID) and only a skeleton staff.
|
| IIRC I found mine on Craigslist.
| silverquiet wrote:
| Reminds me of my office after private equity outsourced
| most of the US workforce. It wasn't just that there was no
| one at the desks, it was that they removed all the
| personalization and even the department names and
| decorations which turned our once-vibrant, if irreverent
| old office into a generic, anonymous place.
| gedy wrote:
| Got my Herman Miller in dot com shutdown too, except it was
| facilities guy wheeling everything out into the parking lot
| saying "Take it all.."
| codexb wrote:
| For chairs, look up office furniture rental companies. They
| often sell 5+ year old office chairs for steep discounts and
| they are usually in pretty good condition.
| SkyPuncher wrote:
| Search for office supply places in your area. Look for
| something that's "second tier". Lacking a fancy store front,
| maybe in a warehouse, or an office that hasn't been updated in
| decades. Even when I lived in rural parts of the country, I
| could find several with 2 hours drive.
|
| Alternatively, searching Craigslist for Herman Miller or Aeron
| will likely turn up results from these resellers.
| ramon156 wrote:
| Just check your craigslist equivalent (marktplaats in my
| country). I got a really nice desk+lamp for $100 when they had
| to liquidate their furniture
| simonw wrote:
| When YC had their headquarters in Mountain View there used to
| be a warehouse about a block away from there called Desk Depot
| - https://maps.app.goo.gl/GL9YpxsBt79M1Rxi7 - Google thinks it
| may be permanently closed now.
|
| It specialized in second hand furniture from tech companies. It
| was AMAZING. The owner could tell the story of the past few
| decades of Silicon Valley illustrated by second hand desk
| furniture - like that corner over there is Sun Microsystems,
| this corner is Yahoo! etc. He had the full chronology of Herman
| Miller chairs as well.
|
| Practically a museum. I'll be said if it's really closed for
| good.
|
| https://www.yelp.com/biz/desk-depot-mountain-view says it's
| closed but has a comment from someone in 2021 saying "This
| place is NOT closed. WTH is Yelp reporting it as closed?"
| Ekaros wrote:
| Some office furniture retailers have outlets where they sell
| second hand stuff at slight discount. This often comes with
| some level of warranty and might have even gone through proper
| refurb process.
| BetaDeltaAlpha wrote:
| https://www.yelp.com/biz/berkeley-office-interiors-berkeley
| Gets a lot of furniture from big offices in San Francisco every
| time there's a downturn.
| tamimio wrote:
| I never understood the obsession with the chair type, model, or
| manufacturer. I have a normal office chair whose brand I don't
| know, and I never had issues despite sitting for long periods
| of time. The trick first me is to never stay still in one
| position for more than 30 minutes and to rotate between
| different positions, leaning forward or backward, and other
| positions as if I'm sitting on the floor. For example, like the
| 'Burmese' or 'on a stool' positions in this picture (1). I also
| do the usual stretches from time to time.
|
| (1)
| https://64.media.tumblr.com/fd311523b5965df9b1ff0682c0041c96...
| readthenotes1 wrote:
| Most fancy office chairs give me a back ache. I preferred an
| inexpensive straight back with padded seat...
| Scoundreller wrote:
| The factory-pre-assgrooved seat cushions on the market are
| quite nice
| tamimio wrote:
| One time I had to travel and stay in the field for a month,
| my "desk" was literally a cardboard box and a futon, which
| is to be honest felt even better because you can quickly
| lay down for few minutes to "reset" your spine.
| mxwsn wrote:
| Have you tried a Herman Miller? I once thought like you, but
| the magic of Herman Miller for me is that I can sit in the
| same position for hours and I never think about it,
| consciously or subconsciously. When I get up I don't really
| feel anything. Which is how it should be. Having to move
| every thirty minutes to feel OK is a sign of a bad chair.
| willsmith72 wrote:
| > Having to move every thirty minutes to feel OK is a sign
| of a bad chair.
|
| It's a sign of being a human being in a body which evolved
| to move. Even if you're not in physical pain, moving
| regularly is by far better than not for your health.
| tamimio wrote:
| > Have you tried a Herman Miller?
|
| I didn't, but now that you mentioned it, I would definitely
| try it out of curiosity, what model do you use?
|
| > Having to move every thirty minutes to feel OK is a sign
| of a bad chair.
|
| I don't think it's a bad habit to move periodically, which
| is something you do even while sleeping anyway.
| mxwsn wrote:
| I like the Aeron. A corollary of what I wrote is that if
| you just sit in it for a few seconds or minutes at a
| store, it doesn't feel special. If you work at a decently
| sized company or have access to a coworking space, you
| can likely find an Aeron somewhere.
| ivanr wrote:
| It's one of those things... what works for you may not work
| for other people. For someone who's made-up differently, the
| right chair can make all the difference in the world.
|
| I do what you do (and more) _and_ I have the best chair _and_
| I am still in constant pain.
| tamimio wrote:
| Fair point, and I hope your pain eases soon too!
| chadash wrote:
| There are companies that specialize in buying up office
| furniture being liquidated. They buy it at a discount and sell
| it to the next company.
|
| The thing is that sometimes they have leftovers that they can't
| really sell to another company and these will often be very
| cheap. I bought a used Steelcase Leap from one of these places
| that operated out of a nearby warehouse. A new Leap sells for
| $1000+. It was in near perfect condition, but it was a
| different color then the rest of the Leaps that they had, so no
| one buying in bulk was likely to purchase it. I bought it for
| about $200. They even steam cleaned it for free before I picked
| it up.
| smcin wrote:
| For all us peasants who don't know what that is, a Steelcase
| Leap is an expensive office chair.
| sharadov wrote:
| I bought a standing desk here in the Bay area - saw an ad on FB
| marketplace and went to this warehouse - they had tons of
| office stuff, got a really nice standing desk for a fraction of
| the price, this was during covid when lots of offices were
| going remote.
| neom wrote:
| State side anyway, all the good stuff almost always goes
| through HGP: https://www.hgpauction.com/
| hodgesrm wrote:
| It seems very meta that businesses to wind down startups are also
| startups. It's turtles all the way down.
| swman wrote:
| "We dogfood our own product to shut ourselves down"
|
| PE: hello
| teeray wrote:
| Yes, but it also sounds like VC necromancy. Investing in a
| startup undertaker gets them on the hyperscale train, preying
| on the death of other startups. Eventually, they need to find
| new and innovative ways to make startups die so they can feed
| off them. They become homicidal undead unicorns.
| lebean wrote:
| A startup that specializes in tearing down failed startups
| could tear itself down when they are no longer needed. Like
| the startups it had liquidated, the liquidator itself will be
| liquidated, then capital will be available again to start the
| process anew with a new bubble and new crops of startups. It
| is the cycle of life, such a beautiful thing to behold.
| hn72774 wrote:
| All that is missing is NFT's of the failed company's IP,
| and an ICO.
| kjkjadksj wrote:
| Easy, just open a startup wind down wind downer company and
| you have a brand new market.
| paxys wrote:
| At least when _those_ startups have to wind down they will know
| exactly what to do.
| candiddevmike wrote:
| What's the exit plan for a startup vulture?
| binsquare wrote:
| Start ups should open source their work instead of letting it be
| shelved.
| paxys wrote:
| Interesting space to operate in. I wonder what safeguards they
| have to ensure that they will get paid by a customer base that
| likely cannot afford to pay its existing bills.
| mistrial9 wrote:
| this is likely "business confidential" since it is deeply
| competitive! I suspect a) court order b) personal and private
| arrangements with legal decision makers c) contract law d)
| "lies"
|
| certainly knowing and using these techniques is the difference
| between being an amateur and being successful
| kjkjadksj wrote:
| The customer just probably takes on more debt
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-02-27 23:01 UTC)