Ethical dilemma - bizness

Question -

Let's say you're the CEO of a company and one of your competitors comes to you and tells you he is rolling up with two other companies in the same industry, with the goal of going public within 3 years. This move will probably make them the biggest player in your industry. He offers to fold you into the merger.

Prob is, you think the guy is a dick and you don't really trust him either (though you don't see how he would benefit from fucking you over in this deal).

What would you do? Would you leap for the brass ring of big profits that might come from going public, despite not liking the dude? Or are you content to drop down to the second tier and hope you can still scrape together work every year while the big boys go on their merry way?

To add an additional wrinkle to things, in order to go public the combined entity would have to show 35% gross annual revenue, 20% net revenue, which is actually higher than the figures for your company alone...so you wonder how attainable that target is...

Wish I could make a poll...

duly noted...so?

Pimpin' ain't easy.

The carrot is a big pile of shares when you go public? I know of a couple of similar scenarios on a more parochial scale where people got shafted, both effectively fraud.

But from an ethical point of view isn't it a question of implications for your staff rather than yourself? Whether you like the guy or not would seem to be a minor issue.

good points...I dunno, I don't like doing business with people I don't like, simple as that...so for me the fact that I don't really like the guy isn't a minor issue...he kind of shafted me in the past (admittedly in a very clever way), making deals with some of our mutual friends and excluding me, effectively creating a clique within our clique that serves his interests...

I like doing business with people I can smile at every day...and not just be united by a common greed...

The frustrating thing is sort of wanting the same things they want (success, big money) but not really feeling like one of them...and that's not elitism talking, I just feel like I'm cut from a different cloth...I don't live for out-strategizing and out-charming others, at the end of the day I'm a shy idm-loving dork with some management skills overlaid on top...

i would just completely crack under the stress

layn around getting fat in a chinese brothel

the thing is, those chinese bidnissmen who are laying around in those brothels are never content, they're always scheming and plotting on how to expand further, get more...the brothel thing is just to improve your connections, get more "guanxi"...I've never seen one of these guys where I was convinced "this guy is happy deep down." But they are masters of bidness for sure...

nah follow your hunch and don't deal with people you don't like. if you don't like him now you will hate him when you have to work with him. sounds like chances are his venture will flop anyway.

yeah, that's the other option, don't go for it and engage in schadenfreude with gusto, hoping they'll implode...but they probably won't. That is, until China as a whole implodes...

I'd rather be poor than having to work with or under a asshole. That is, if I was the one confronting him all the time. If I was but one of a few people it would be easier and in this case I would openly debate the subject anyway.

eschew capitalism, smash the system

that is my $0.02

i say if you don't trust him there's nothing more to deliberate...

maybe he plans to swallow up your business and current contracts, workforce, expertise, contacts, etc to give his little venture a running start. once it's up and running who knows whether he'll see the need to keep you around.

There seems to be an inversely proportional relationship between the amount of your heart and soul that is represented by your company and the amount of money you will make. Maybe base your decision accordingly...

Actually I like what Lady Kakapo said -- Take care of your staff.

i would do my best to take care of "my" staff in either event. And I think it's not true that they'd be harmed if our company failed; most of them (the skilled ones) would be able to find new work.

oh snap!

Been reading this great book on the psychology of decisions called "Thinking, Fast and Slow." One of the major theses revolves around how your mind eschews statistical questions when it can't figure out the answer and poses a much simpler and answerable question that is tangentially related. Ultimately that is a wrong turn. Sounds like whether or not you like this guy is the easier question that has been substituted in for the "should I work with him?"

I guess all I'm saying is to not combine the two, although liking him could depend on how well YOU work with him in a business aspect.

that's a very good point. In fact I kind of envy the guy. But I suppose the decision should be based on how viable our business would be if we don't take part in the merger. And though that's hard to judge, I am worried. Since we're in the services sector, it's entirely possible that should we not take part and the merger and listing do go through and are successful, the new entity will have control of most of the key clients/accounts, so we will be reduced to taking their subcontracting work...in effect having them as my boss anyway...it's a tough call...

and edit: it's still entirely possible they won't want to merge with us. According to him, we are one of two companies they are currently floating the idea to, and they're only going to go with one. That means it will end up a merger of 4 companies...that seems like a management headache...part of me just wants to stay small and try to ride it out, there are so many unknowns with a merger of that size...

Stay small, develop the connections that are already providing you work. Provide quality work (which I'm sure you do).

Plant a mole in the asshole's company, provide him with a USB stick full of viruses/trojans/keyloggers etc.

???

Profit

Is your work as good or better than theirs? Will the quality of your company improve with the merger or will it be watered down? Quality seems to be what wins out in the end, regardless of the money. Is it a decision you will be proud of later?

  On 1/12/2012 at 7:07 PM, chenGOD said:

Stay small, develop the connections that are already providing you work. Provide quality work (which I'm sure you do).

Plant a mole in the asshole's company, provide him with a USB stick full of viruses/trojans/keyloggers etc.

???

Profit

this seems the most likely to succeed. i would amend it so the mole doesn't know they're a mole and you just give free infected usb sticks to all new employees of that company.

company only needs one ceo, sounds like you'd be making yourself redundant. share-wise, there's a lot of ways to get fucked over, even if you're the founder. basically, if you can get cash, get cash. anything else is a gamble, you might as well play roulette, your odds are better.

business sucks sometimes.

From what I can tell about you you don't seem like the big business corporate type. You build your own separate islands/ cities in minecraft for god's sake.

however if you do jump in make sure you on the permanent exec. board.

If the mega-business fails do the contracts suddenly dry up? see what you can do about having a pontoon company ready if you need to bail (alter a non-compete that stipulates that you can if business starts to go south).

good advice, though I'm not sure I would base what I should do on the weirdnesses in my character (see minecraft)

I definitely have to learn more about it, and if they even want me as their candidate...

i am also thinking, if you dont like the guy, dont make yourself rely on him because your hatred will build quickly. on the otherhand, what do you have to lose?