<![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, aliph]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, aliph]]> http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/aliph http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/aliph <![CDATA[MrMedia]]> Aliph, the maker of the Jawbone Bluetooth headset, dropped half a million on fancy furniture for its offices, then fired 25 of the 75 people whose seats the purchase was meant to warm. Today's featured commenter, MrMedia, explains why the expenditure was worth it:

It could be a wise move. If you invest $500k in exotic furniture, it will probably have a liquidation value of $200k when this company of his goes belly up in 24 months. Likewise, that $500k sitting in the company's bank accounts would be worth $0 in 24 months. And if he invested it in the stock market it would probably be worth $150k in 24 months. The way I look at it, this was a very savvy move on the CEO's part. Bravo!

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5082579&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Aliph CEO spends $500,000 on new furniture before layoffs]]> Bluetooth headsets make you look like a rambling idiot, addressing an audience of one. San Francisco startup Aliph solves that problem: Wearing its sleek Jawbone makes you look like a stylish, rambling idiot. An appropriate accessory for CEO Hosain Rahman. Venture-capital news site PEHub reports that Rahman ordered $500,000 in new, high-end furniture for the office, instructed employees to box up their things, and then laid off a third of the company's 75-person staff. The company has raised $42.5 million in funding. Its backers include Sequoia Capital, the VC firm which recently issued a cost-cutting fatwa to its portfolio companies. Whatever one might say about Rahman, one should credit him for good taste: He has also commissioned a mural for the office from DeYoung Museum artist-in-residence Tucker Nichols.

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