A Message to the Zeus Team from CEO, Kulveer Taggar

Details on today’s announcement.

Each week, I’ve met with you (via Zoom) to celebrate wins of all sizes and hard truths. We’ve been proactively addressing the needs of the current market, pursuing funding sources, gaining demand momentum, and developing new business strategies. Through it all, I’ve been truly humbled by your dedication, determination, and spirit.

But the reality has continued to evolve and it’s with a heavy heart that today I share tough news.

Over the course of the last few weeks, four factors have become clearer:

  • COVID-19’s effect will last longer than anticipated and business travel will recover slowly.
  • Short and long-term markets have and will continue to shift, resulting in revenue being 55% of what we had budgeted in 2020.
  • We will have fewer CORE homes in our portfolio.
  • After much discussion, we were required to return the PPP loan earmarked to help cover payroll.

Guided by these factors, Joe, Srini and I set out to establish a robust roadmap to maximize our runway. To provide us with the runway we need, it became undeniable that we’d have to reduce salary expenses through a combination of salary adjustments, furloughs, and layoffs.

Decisions about layoffs were made primarily by the founders, with input from the Senior Team. We approached these decisions by mapping each team and role to either the resident experience, demand generation, or critical new initiatives. Some teams were eliminated almost entirely, and others were reduced in size. Seventy-three teammates will be leaving Zeus, nearly 50% of the company. None of the decisions made reflect the talent, contributions, and heart of those laid off.

As an early-stage company fighting for longevity, we did everything we could to provide those being laid off with the most robust severance package possible. We wish we could have done more to reflect your true value.

We’re offering severance, will also cover one month of COBRA insurance, give you your laptop, and of course pay out your earned vacation. We’ve set up an alumni network for those in this and the previous round of layoffs. Our hope is to provide support through introductions, recommendations for future roles based on the good work done at Zeus, and personal connection.

For those of you staying on, I know you’re wondering what’s next. We will have an All Hands tomorrow to discuss the new chapter.

I’m very sorry. This is a decision I hoped we wouldn’t have to make, and is not how I wanted us to part ways. Zeus has been built not by the founders but by the sheer will, determination, and grit of remarkable people I care about and call my friends. I’m honored to have had the privilege of working, building, and learning alongside you and will forever be grateful.

Kulveer