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HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah apologized after commenters criticized a LinkedIn message thanking employees on the same day the company eliminated their jobs. Shah edited the post to acknowledge that he had overlooked the pain and uncertainty of being laid off.
What Dharmesh Shah originally posted
Shah’s first message publicly addressed employees HubSpot had let go. It said: “My personal thanks to all of the people that HubSpot parted ways with today. You helped make HubSpot the company it is. Best wishes with the next chapter.”
The wording was intended as a public expression of gratitude, but the timing—on the day of the layoffs—prompted criticism from some commenters. The Boston Business Journal described reactions that characterized the message as cold, impersonal or out of touch. Those descriptions reflect the commenters quoted in the report, not a measured or unanimous view of HubSpot employees or the public.
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Shah later added an update to the LinkedIn post. He wrote: “My original post was curt and insensitive. I’m sincerely sorry. I meant to express gratitude publicly (vs. the direct interactions I’ve had individually) to those who lost their jobs, but failed to acknowledge the pain and uncertainty of being laid off. As a co-founder, I should have showed the people who helped build HubSpot more care and empathy.”
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The update identifies the specific omission Shah believed made the original message inappropriate: it thanked departing employees without directly recognizing what losing a job meant for them. He said he had spoken with some people individually, but acknowledged that the public post did not convey enough care.
How many HubSpot employees were affected?
The Boston Business Journal reported that HubSpot’s cuts affected roughly 660 workers, or about 7% of the company’s global workforce. HubSpot announced the layoffs the previous week, according to the report.
Shah co-founded HubSpot with Brian Halligan in 2006 and serves as the company’s chief technology officer. The controversy therefore involved a senior company leader addressing people who had helped build the business, rather than a comment from an outside observer.
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The available account draws an important distinction. The Boston Business Journal described HubSpot’s strategic change as a move away from primarily building software toward delivering customer outcomes with artificial intelligence. That is the strategy context reported around the reorganization.
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In an employee email quoted by the paper, CEO Yamini Rangan said the reorganization was “not driven by AI-related efficiencies.” The two statements are not interchangeable: the company’s direction involved AI, while Rangan’s quoted caveat denied that AI-related efficiency gains were the driver of the layoffs.
What is established—and what is not
- Shah posted a public thank-you to people HubSpot had let go and wished them well.
- Some commenters objected to the message’s timing and tone.
- He edited the post with an apology that specifically mentioned the pain and uncertainty of being laid off.
- The reported workforce impact was approximately 660 people, or 7% globally.
- The reporting connects the restructuring with a strategy involving AI, while quoting Rangan as saying it was not driven by AI-related efficiencies.
The apology does not reverse the layoffs or establish how affected workers responded. The Boston Business Journal also reported that Shah and HubSpot did not respond to separate requests for comment on Monday.
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- Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.
- Publisher: Page Two
- Pages: 244
- Publication Date: 2016-02-29
- Edition: 1
Why the wording drew criticism
A thank-you can recognize employees’ contributions, but posting it at the moment their employment ended can read differently from a private expression of appreciation. Shah’s edit addressed that mismatch by naming the emotional and practical uncertainty of job loss rather than leaving the message focused only on what employees had contributed to HubSpot.
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