好英语网硅谷独角兽公司创始人正在“离场”
SAN FRANCISCO — The young kings of Silicon Valley are dismounting their unicorns.
旧金山——硅谷的年轻王者们正在从他们的独角兽上走下来。
They’re writing sentimental blog posts that outline their legacies. They’re expressing hope for their companies’ prospects. They’re quitting their jobs leading the start-ups they founded.
他们撰写感伤的博客文章，总结他们的传世成就。他们表达对公司前景的希望。他们正纷纷辞职，不再领导自己创办的初创企业。
In recent weeks, Ben Silbermann, a co-founder of the digital pinboard service Pinterest, resigned as chief executive; Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of the home rental company Airbnb, announced his departure from the company’s leadership; and Apoorva Mehta, the founder of the grocery delivery app Instacart, said he would end his run as executive chairman when the company went public, as soon as this year.
最近几周，数字看板服务Pinterest的联合创始人本·西尔伯曼辞去了首席执行官一职；房屋租赁公司Airbnb的联合创始人乔·杰比亚宣布退出公司领导层；杂货配送应用Instacart的创始人阿普尔瓦·梅塔表示，公司最快于今年内上市，此后他将不再执行董事长的职务。
The resignations signify the end of an era at these companies, which are among the most valuable and well-known to emerge from Silicon Valley in the past decade, and of the era they represent. In recent years, investors have dumped increasingly large sums of money into a group of highly valued start-ups known as unicorns, worth $1 billion or more, and their founders have been treated as visionary heroes. Those founders fought for special ownership rights that kept them in control of their companies — a change from the past, when entrepreneurs were often replaced by more experienced executives or pressured to sell.
这些都是过去十年硅谷涌现的最具价值、最知名的公司，这些辞职事件对它们来说意味着一个时代的结束，也意味着它们所代表时代的结束。近年来，投资者向一批价值在10亿美元以上、被称为“独角兽”的高估值初创企业投入了越来越多资金，它们的创始人被视为有远见的英雄。他们争取到了特殊的所有权，以保持他们对公司的控制——这与过去企业家经常被更有经验的高管取代或被迫出售公司有很大区别。
But when the stock market fell dramatically this year, hitting money-losing tech companies especially hard, this approach began to change. Venture capitalists pulled back on their deal-making and urged Silicon Valley’s prized young companies to cut costs and proceed cautiously. The industry began to talk of “wartime C.E.O.s” who can do more with less, while bragging about lessons learned from previous downturns.
但随着今年股市大幅下跌，亏损的科技公司受到尤其严重的打击，这种做法开始改变。风险投资家不再大手大脚，并敦促硅谷那些备受赞誉的年轻公司削减成本、谨慎行事。这个行业开始谈论“战时首席执行官”，他们可以用更少的钱做更多的事情，同时大肆宣扬从以前的衰退中吸取的教训。
Patience for visionaries wore thin. Founder-led companies started to seem like liabilities, not assets.
人们对梦想家的耐心越来越少。由创始人领导的公司如今看起来像是负债，而不是资产。
“All of that changed in the last 90 days, and it’s not coming back anytime soon,” said Wil Schroter, the founder of Startups.com, an accelerator program for young companies. The “we’ll figure it out later” story is no longer attractive to investors, he added.
“在过去的90天里，一切都发生了变化，而且不会很快恢复，”年轻公司加速器项目Startups.com的创始人威尔·施罗德说。他还说，“有问题以后再说”这样的说法，对投资者不再有吸引力。
In addition to Mr. Silbermann, Mr. Gebbia and Mr. Mehta, founders at the top of Twitter, Peloton, Medium and MicroStrategy have all resigned this year.
除了西尔伯曼、杰比亚和梅塔，执掌Twitter、Peloton、Medium和MicroStrategy的创始人都已在今年辞职。
They’re not leaving on a high note. Shares of Pinterest are down 60 percent from a year ago. Elliott Management, an activist shareholder known for pressuring companies to make big changes, recently took a stake in the company. Airbnb shares are down 25 percent from a year ago. And Instacart lowered its internal valuation almost 40 percent in March, as it prepares to go public in a hostile market.
他们离开时的心情并不轻松。Pinterest的股价比一年前下跌了60%。以向企业施压要求其做出重大改革而闻名的维权股东埃利奥特管理公司最近入股这家公司。Airbnb的股价比一年前下跌了25%。今年3月，随着公司准备在一个不利的市场上市，Instacart将其内部估值降低了近40%。
“It’s surely less fun being a C.E.O. when markets are down, the economy is trending negative and regulation is increasing,” said Kevin Werbach, a professor of business at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “If you’re as already rich, famous and successful as these guys, there usually comes a point where staying in the saddle is less appealing than riding off into the sunset.”
“当市场低迷、经济趋于负面、监管不断加强的时候，做首席执行官肯定没那么有趣了，”宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院商学教授凯文·韦尔巴赫说。“如果你已经像这些人一样富有、有名、成功，那么通常到了一个时刻，纵马向夕阳比留在原地更有吸引力。”
In start-up lore, Mark Zuckerberg pioneered the modern boy boss. Carrying business cards that read, “I’m C.E.O., bitch” and ruffling Wall Street feathers with his “disrespectful” hoodie, he demanded investors let him keep a controlling interest in Facebook as it grew, ushering in today’s era of “founder-friendly” deal-making. Young, ambitious men like Mr. Zuckerberg received similar protections and leeway as venture capital firms rushed to appear as accommodating as possible, lavishing the entrepreneurs with perks (dinners, jets, celebrities) and services (recruiting, public relations, design). One firm even publicly pledged to never vote against a founder on company matters.
在创业传奇中，马克·扎克伯格开创了现代“少爷老板”形象的先河。他手里拿着写着“我是CEO，贱人”的名片，用一身“不尊重人”的连帽衫激怒了华尔街，他要求投资者让他在Facebook的发展过程中保持对公司的控股，这开启了今天“创始人友好”的融资交易时代。和扎克伯格一样雄心勃勃的年轻人也得到了和他类似的保护和自由，因为风险投资公司争先恐后地表现出尽可能的宽容，给创业者们提供大量福利（晚宴、飞机、名人）和服务（招聘、公关和设计）。有一家公司甚至公开承诺永远不会在公司事务上投票反对创始人。
“It inspired our whole generation to believe in the impossible that they could start companies,” said Trace Cohen, 34, an investor in very young start-ups.
“这激励了我们这一代人，人们本来觉得创业是遥不可及的，”现年34岁、专门从事初创企业早期投资的特蕾西·科恩说。
Founders took advantage of their upper hands. They stayed in the top jobs, even when the companies outgrew their skills as managers. And they kept their companies private for as long as possible, avoiding pesky business realities like turning a profit. They were given the benefit of the doubt — something female founders rarely got.
创始人利用了他们的优势。即使公司的发展超出了他们作为管理者的能力，他们仍然担任着高层职位。他们尽可能长时间地保持公司的私有性质，避免盈利之类烦人的商业现实。疑点利益归于他们——不过女性创始人很少得到这个待遇。
As the tech sector became a dominant force in our economy, the cult of the start-up founder made its way into popular culture via celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and TV shows like the HBO satire “Silicon Valley.”
随着科技行业成为我们经济中的主导力量，对初创公司创始人的崇拜通过阿什顿·库彻等名人和HBO讽刺剧《硅谷》(Silicon Valley)等电视剧进入了流行文化。
Some founders of this era took their latitude too far. Adam Neumann’s spending and partying got him forced out of WeWork in 2018, even though he held a controlling stake in the company. And Travis Kalanick’s aggressive tactics at Uber resulted in his ouster in 2017, despite his super-voting shares.
这个时代的一些创始人做得太过分了。亚当·诺伊曼的消费和派对让他在2018年被迫退出WeWork，尽管他持有该公司的控股权。特拉维斯·卡兰尼克在Uber的激进策略导致他在2017年被解雇，尽管他拥有的股份让他享有超级投票权。
The rest mostly held on through the companies’ initial public offerings. But it turns out that running a publicly traded company, with its attendant fiduciary duties, analyst calls and slog of quarterly earnings, is a far cry from the hustle and thrill of start-up life. Now, as troubles mount amid a market meltdown, they’re giving up the power and control they once fought for.
其余的人大多撑到了公司的首次公开募股。但事实证明，经营一家上市公司以及随之而来的信托责任、分析师电话和季度收益的艰辛与忙碌刺激的创业生活相去甚远。现在，随着市场崩溃带来的麻烦越来越多，他们放弃了曾经努力争取的权力和控制。
In his announcement, Mr. Silbermann said that running Pinterest had been “the gift of a lifetime.” Mr. Gebbia, who will become an adviser to Airbnb, posted an effusive reminiscence of the company’s early days, alongside photos, nicknames of his co-founders (Brian “Jet Fuel” Chesky and “Indiana Nate” Blecharczyk) and lessons about the goodness of humanity. (Mr. Chesky remains its chief executive.) Mr. Mehta tweeted that he “cared deeply” about Instacart — the “one thing I have thought about for every waking minute of the last decade.”
西尔伯曼在声明中说，经营Pinterest是“一生的礼物”。即将成为Airbnb顾问的杰比亚在帖子中热情洋溢地回忆了该公司早期的日子，并附上了照片、提到他联合创始人的外号（“航空燃料”布莱恩·切斯基和“印第安纳内特”布莱查奇克），以及关于人性之善的教训。（切斯基目前仍是首席执行官。）梅塔在Twitter上说，他“非常关心”Instacart，“过去十年来，我清醒时的每一分钟都在想着它。”
Leaving as billionaires, they have emanated Silicon Valley’s relentless positivity. Pinterest “is just getting started,” Airbnb “is in the best hands it’s ever been in” and Instacart has a “enormous opportunity ahead,” the founders wrote. Both Mr. Mehta and Mr. Gebbia said they had plans for new projects.
当他们以亿万富翁的身份离开时，身上还散发着硅谷永不停息的积极情绪。创始人们称，Pinterest“刚刚起步”，Airbnb“得到了有史以来最好的管理者”，Instacart“面临着巨大的机遇”。梅塔和杰比亚都表示，他们有做新项目的计划。
Investors say they anticipate more of these resignations from founders who are realizing they now have to work harder for less (relatively speaking). “Now, they can let some executives step up, take over and grow it with different incentives,” Mr. Cohen said.
投资者表示，他们预计会有更多创始人辞职，这些人意识到他们现在不得不更努力地工作，但回报（相对而言）却不如从前。“现在，他们可以让一些高管上台，通过不同的激励措施接管并发展公司，”科恩说。
Last week, Brad Hargreaves, the founder of Common, a start-up that operates communal living spaces, announced he would step down as chief executive, becoming chief creative officer. The company’s head of property, Karlene Holloman, a hotel industry veteran, will take over as chief executive.
上周，经营公共生活空间的初创公司Common的创始人布拉德·哈格里夫斯宣布，他将辞去首席执行官一职，成为首席创意官。该公司的物业主管、酒店业资深人士卡琳·霍洛曼将接任首席执行官一职。
The market downturn factored into Mr. Hargreaves’s decision. In flush times, he said, it’s good to have a founder at the top of the company who can sell investors, employees and customers on a grand vision. “Operations don’t really matter that much,” he said. “No one’s really watching the bottom line.”
市场低迷是哈格里夫斯做出决定的原因之一。他说，在繁荣时期，有一位创始人担任公司高层，能够将宏大的愿景推销给投资者、员工和客户，这是件好事。“运营真的没那么重要，”他说。“没有人真正关注盈利能力。”
Today’s environment requires someone with Ms. Holloman’s extensive experience and operational skills, he said. “In a tighter time, when operations matter a lot and nobody’s buying into any grand visions, you want an operator in that seat,” he said.
他说，当今的环境需要霍洛曼这样拥有丰富经验和操作技能的人。“在更紧迫的时期，当运营非常重要并且没有人愿意相信任何宏大的愿景时，你需要一个运营者坐在那个位置上，”他说。
“A lot of founder-C.E.O.s stick around too long,” he added.
“很多创始人兼CEO在位的时间太长了，”他补充道。
The founders who have so far stayed on amid the downturn — and there are many, including at Stripe, Coinbase and Discord — can expect greater demands and more pressure. The stock trading app Robinhood has laid off more than 1,000 employees this year as it loses active customers. Dan Dolev, an analyst at Mizuho Securities, said several investors had privately suggested Robinhood bring in a more seasoned executive to help its co-founder, Vlad Tenev. Mr. Tenev cannot be forced out, since he and his co-founder, Baiju Bhatt, together hold a controlling stake in the company.
迄今为止，在经济低迷时期仍然留任的创始人——包括Stripe、Coinbase和Discord等——将会迎来更高的要求和更大的压力。由于活跃用户的流失，股票交易应用程序“罗宾汉”今年已经解雇了1000多名员工。瑞穗证券分析师丹·多列夫表示，一些投资者私下建议罗宾汉聘请一位经验更丰富的高管，辅佐其联合创始人弗拉德·特内夫。特内夫不能被迫退出，因为他和他的联合创始人拜居·巴特共同持有该公司的控股权。
“They’re typical founders where they’re very good at the ideas and creative stuff,” Mr. Dolev said, “but could use help with operations.”
“他们是典型的创始人，非常擅长点子和创意，”多列夫说，“但在运营方面需要帮助。”
A Robinhood spokeswoman said the company had recently undergone a reorganization and pointed to executive hires from TD Ameritrade and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
罗宾汉的一位发言人表示，该公司最近进行了重组，并表示聘请了来自德美利证券和证券交易委员会的高管。
Making matters worse, start-up founders have lost their halo of positive cultural cachet — a trend that began during the tech backlash of 2017 and that has grown with the release of devastating books and TV shows about WeWork, Uber and other tech darlings.
初创公司的创始人已经失去了积极的文化声望的光环，使情况雪上加霜。这一趋势始于科技业在2017年引起的反感，随着关于WeWork、优步和其他科技宠儿的一些严重破坏形象的书籍和电视节目的发布，这种趋势不断发展壮大。
“Once you’ve made a certain amount of money, you’re playing for status, and the status isn’t there,” Mr. Hargreaves said.
“一旦你赚到了一定数量的钱，你就是在为地位而战，而地位并不在那儿，”哈格里夫斯说。
Still, there’s always the comeback story. If the market gets worse and companies start seriously tanking, we could see the reverse dynamic of founders returning to right the ship, said Mr. Werbach, the business professor.
尽管如此，总会有东山再起的故事。商业教授韦巴赫说，如果市场变得更糟，公司开始严重下滑，我们可能会看到创始人纷纷回归，要将企业带回正轨。
It would be a throwback to the original cult-hero founder, who commanded admiration long before unicorns roamed the Valley and who even inspired Mr. Zuckerberg’s swaggering business cards. He was, perhaps, the original boy boss: Steve Jobs.
那将是最初那种教主-英雄型创始人的回归，早在独角兽驰骋硅谷之前就有这样令人五体投地的人物，甚至启发了扎克伯格那张狂妄自大的名片。他也许就是最早的“少爷老板”：史蒂夫·乔布斯。