Thread by Xavier Helgesen

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A friend called me last week, torn up. She had to fire a co-founder.

Here’s what I told her…

Firing is the worst part of entrepreneurship.

But it is also the most essential.

Nobody taught this in business school, so I wrote a manual.

How/why to fire with love:
If you are even considering firing, you have already made the decision.

You just haven’t accepted it yet.

You keep coming up with excuses: Maybe a different role or a performance improvement plan will help.

Truth is, the employee is playing on the wrong team.
Every great company is like a professional sports team.

They play on the field every day and if they lose too often, everyone loses their job.

Example excuse: He’s a great guy.

Just because I’m a nice person doesn’t mean I get to play point guard for the Warriors.
Let’s assume by some colossal mistake I became point guard for the Warriors:

1. I would be very stressed about my poor performance.

2. My teammates would perform worse because I would bring us all down.

3. My team would lose all the time and that would hurt the fans.
Same for someone in the wrong company.

They will be happier somewhere else.

Every single time I fired someone, they landed somewhere better.

But change is super scary and economic anxiety is very real from being suddenly fired.

There’s a silver bullet though:
An unusually large severance.

It makes the firing palatable for all sides.

Executives negotiate 6-12 month severance routinely.

I recommend 3-6 months, with health care (COBRA) also covered.

But in exchange, you have to do it ASAP.

Here’s how:
Fire on a Friday.

Have all your ducks in a row, including a written severance offer and a notice of termination.

Make sure you can immediately suspend their email/logins.

If possible, have a third person present.

Mentally prepare to have it last no more than 5 minutes.
This is not the place to provide feedback about why, to offer help finding a new role, etc.

Just practice these words: “Sally, I called this meeting to tell you that I have made the tough decision to terminate your employment with the company.”

“I know you were probably not…
… expecting this, so to make the transition easier, we will pay X months severance including health insurance.”

“I’m sure you want time and space to process this, so I’m not going to take any more of your time now. All the info you need will be emailed to you.”
Optional part:

“I want to thank you for all the work you have put in on {name specific good thing they did} and I have always respected {name their best quality}.”
And that’s it. Rip the Band-Aid off and end the call/meeting.

If you stay on, they may vent, lash out, and that doesn’t help anyone.

If you want to be helpful to them in finding a new role, make sure they earn that help by being emotionally responsible on their side.
Remember, by doing this difficult 5 minutes, you are protecting:

1. Your A players.
2. Your own income/security.
3. Your investors.
4. All future employees.
5. Your customers.

I can’t imagine a higher return on your time.

Follow @XavierHelgesen for more.
Addendum #1: An entrepreneur I respect a lot suggests firing on a Monday instead.

That way the person who was fired can immediately start looking for work on a Tuesday.

Also gives less time for the rumor mill to get going.

This approach has a lot of merit, especially remote
Addendum #2: As expected, a few folks have questioned this approach.

I want to stress that everything here is carefully calibrated to both:

1. Let the person being fired get on with their life.

2. Make the process bearable for the person doing the firing.
You are not the therapist of the person being fired and you don’t “owe” them anything beyond maximum respect and kindness.

Telling them why they were fired both opens up liability and turns it into a debate. Neither of which is productive.
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