Bob Cringely Fired from His Startup

When I used their recommendations for lenders to apply for lower APR home refinancing (the core service they offer). I did it twice and neither bank ever even got back to me. It was like the form I filled out on the home-Account site just went to no where. Scary stuff when you're submitting a lot financial data. Anyway, I cancelled my account after that and changed some passwords elsewhere and moved on.

I then had to ask them three times over the next few months to stop billing me. Finally had to get someone on the phone which took several calls. I will say the CSR I spoke to was great, but the product is so hopelessly broken otherwise it doesn't factor.

So... Terrible experience with Home-Account. It's too bad, too. They're stated business model really solves a problem a lot of people had/have, their execution is just awful.

A lender did get back to us, but promised a rate they couldn't actually get, and eventually stopped calling. We also have really good credit, so perhaps that's why I at least got an initial call back.

The power to hire and fire is (usually) the CEOs, devolved from the board. The board is (usually) appointed by the equity holders.

For some set ups reversing a CEOs decision might require 50%+ of the shareholders deposing 50%+ of the board and replacing them with tame board members who fire the CEO and appoint someone else.

That's going to look pretty bad to the staff, any investors who don't agree, anyone you might try and hire as the new CEO, customers and any potential future investors. And after all of those people have run away as fast as they can how much of a company is really left?

Just because a founder, for example, doesn't mean you don't have to come into work because you're busy at home eating cheetos and playing xbox (which is definitely not what Cringley did, but an extreme example of why you'd want such a clause).