One of the jobs of C-suite people is to run the optics.
The way the company is perceived; both in and out; is really up to them.
I remember the company I worked with (a highly reputable Japanese company) made a deal with an SV startup. It was a great startup. The people behind it were the "real deal." Some of the most brilliant people I've had the honor to work with. The tech was risky as hell. I think a number of mistakes were made by the beancounters and executives that inked the deal. The Japanese company basically became VC shareholders of the startup. They paid several million dollars, in a few tranches.
We worked our asses off, in that deal. People in all parts of the relationships were burning themselves out. Like I said, risky tech. Things ended up not working out as planned.
After one of the tranches, one of the founders went out and brought a top-of-the-line Model S. Pissed off the Japanese, something fierce.
Things went south, fairly quickly, after that. I don't think it was the cause for the breakup, but it lost the startup some powerful friends, in Tokyo, when they really needed them.
It was the optics. I suspect he ordered it long before the payment, and it would not surprise me if he could afford it (way more than $100K, with his trim package), without the money from the deal. Several of the principals were independently wealthy.
However, Japanese executives make a fraction of what US execs make, and work in more difficult conditions. VPs that control billion-dollar budgets have desks that schoolteachers would sniff at.
Like I said, optics.
It’s not a good idea to piss off people that sign the checks, or will have your back, when you report failure.
Yeah he could buy that car at a different moment after a significant success, in that case no problem. It looked like squandering all the work the Japanese put into the deal.
I mean, yes. If everyone else is nose the grindstone to get something out door and feels on the verge of failing, then buying a new car is a leadership failure. Not because it's necessary bad in and of itself, but because it makes everyone else feel bad.
The way the company is perceived; both in and out; is really up to them.
I remember the company I worked with (a highly reputable Japanese company) made a deal with an SV startup. It was a great startup. The people behind it were the "real deal." Some of the most brilliant people I've had the honor to work with. The tech was risky as hell. I think a number of mistakes were made by the beancounters and executives that inked the deal. The Japanese company basically became VC shareholders of the startup. They paid several million dollars, in a few tranches.
We worked our asses off, in that deal. People in all parts of the relationships were burning themselves out. Like I said, risky tech. Things ended up not working out as planned.
After one of the tranches, one of the founders went out and brought a top-of-the-line Model S. Pissed off the Japanese, something fierce.
Things went south, fairly quickly, after that. I don't think it was the cause for the breakup, but it lost the startup some powerful friends, in Tokyo, when they really needed them.