Sunday, November 09, 2008

PeHub: Can You Hear Me Now? Jawbone Maker Proves Tone-Deaf in Tough Times

"Aliph is known for the Jawbone, a Bluetooth headset with a sleek design and noise cancellation technology. According to former employees, however, it has another, less-known feature: An extraordinarily quixotic CEO.

Stories have begun to leak out about the behavior of Aliph co-founder and CEO Hosain Rahman. Among the most telling is the company’s lavish spending in the middle of the biggest downturn in decades.

Sources say that to outfit the startup’s new offices on Rhode Island Street in San Francisco, Rahman recently ordered $500,000 in new desks, lamps, and conference room furniture from a high-end contemporary furniture maker. To prepare for the bounty’s delivery, all staff were asked to pack up their offices and workspaces on Thursday, October 30th.

But one-third of Aliph’s staff, or 25 employees, never unboxed their belongings. They were laid off the next day, and asked to turn in their Blackberries and laptops. Everyone, from administrative assistants up to directors and VPs, was given two weeks severance."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is utterly despicable. I just received a new old Jabra headset (nothing beats the ol' BT350 model, good thing they still sell it). I was really close to getting the Jawbone. No regrets now.

Anonymous said...

I don't regret buying my Motorola Blue tooth headset. Nothing beats a $100 impulse purchase.