Lay-offs; fear of lay-offs; forecasts of lay-offs; lots of disturbance in the Force these days. I wonder – do those being laid off see it coming?
It reminds me of coffee with my friend and mentor just after Oracle announced its acquisition of NetSuite, back in the day. It wasn’t a surprise. The return to our “Mother Ship” had been speculated for a few years. NetSuite’s quarterly revenue growth was slowing. In the subscription software galaxy, that’s a problem.
My friend and mentor was wondering if I was worried. Here’s how she expressed her concern:
Gary, NetSuite is known in the industry as being somewhat vegetarian. They eat red meat at Oracle.
Teah Bennett
I was OK, I said. This would be my 2nd go-round with Oracle. I was there in 1989 selling Oracle Financials version 1.0. Talk about a battle for the universe! But back then, I was a sales rep with a quota. Back then, it was easy to separate the meat eaters from the rest. And at Oracle, the term “separation” was/is always taken literally. I knew what I was getting back into with Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite. What I didn’t know was how long it would last.
In the fall of 2016, I was 63 years old; supporting NetSuite resellers; in a “Sales Enablement” role, aka a “revenue influencer”, aka “overhead”. Oracle’s value of its technology vs. all else including employees was, and still is, well known:
Jay Nussbaum, who had joined Oracle from Xerox in early 1992, summed up what Oracle's product superiority meant to the sales force: 'A dog with a note in its mouth could sell it technically.’
Fast-forward to 2016. Realizing the power of the Galactic Empire, I knew the race was on.
I loved my job. I was good at it. I intended to work several more years before retiring. Of course, there were a few hurdles. NetSuite was the “gobblee” vs. the “gobbler”; I was a white male (still am); older than 60 (still am); working in a staff/overhead role without a personal quota; dedicated to resellers vs. Oracle/NetSuite’s direct sales force. Ishkabibble!
When the acquisition was announced, I believed someone far-far-away with a list of NetSuite employees and our compensation (probably sorted by age) was asking:
- What does this guy do?
- Why do we need him?
Spoiler alert! Six years later, I gave 30-day notice and successfully retired on my 69th birthday. I beat Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers to my finish line. How’d it happen?
Maybe I got lost in the shuffle. I did report to 6 different managers during that time. Maybe Oracle needed NetSuite’s revenue to justify the $9 billion acquisition price. In turn, NetSuite needed the revenue generated by their resellers. I was the sole person dedicated to partner sales enablement. Maybe Covid distracted everyone’s attention away from some grey-hair in Denver.
Maybe, just maybe, they actually valued my contributions beyond their technology. Next to my younger counterparts, I was the only Master Sales Enablement Advisor on the Oracle/NetSuite team:
In youth we learn, in age we understand.
Marcie VonEbner-Eschenbach
I understood. It was a race. Truthfully, when I retired on my terms before being laid off, I was surprised. I was also appreciative and somewhat amused. Maybe the Force was with me! (Hopefully, it still is.)
GAP
When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.