Marc Randolph (@marcrandolph): "One of my reliable signs that an early-stage company is in trouble: I walk in a few weeks after their seed round closes, and every employee is sitting in a $1,000 Aeron chair behind an automatic standing desk." | XCancel
Marc Randolph
@marcrandolph
May 23
One of my reliable signs that an early-stage company is in trouble: I walk in a few weeks after their seed round closes, and every employee is sitting in a $1,000 Aeron chair behind an automatic standing desk.
May 23, 2026 · 1:22 AM UTC
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Luke Miler
@lukemiler
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Luke Miler
@lukemiler
May 23
Those Aeron chairs are the very first thing you see when a startup fails - rows of them at asset sales going for a third of the price, empty offices full of liquidation photos after bankruptcy 💀
My first office was a crumbling post-Soviet army building we rented for basically nothing.
My chair was a wooden stool. Heating barely worked, so we huddled around space heaters all winter.
One day the whole building suddenly lurched like an earthquake. Turned out two tanks were being moved through the military workshop right behind us.
Fun times 🙂
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Marc Randolph
@marcrandolph
May 25
I clearly remember in early nflx days, I had a meeting at HP and they parked me in a conference room. I opened a cabinet and there were 3 staplers. I couldn’t believe they could afford 3 extra staplers. Still remember that feeling.
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marc
@marcbienaime
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
The desks should be cardboard boxes the chairs came in. The laptops stands stacks of books from Goodwill.
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Marc Randolph
@marcrandolph
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and everyone should have to walk 10 miles to work each day, barefoot, through the snow, uphill in both directions.
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Car Dealership Guy
@GuyDealership
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
One time we bought 25 Aeron chairs for $90/each at a used furniture clearance warehouse near Philadelphia
Ya never know
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Cody Mullins
@codemullins
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Idk $20k for chairs for good engineers seems like a reasonable spend
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Nick ☄️
@NickPrijic
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
this is what I used so I could relive the back pops
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Jake
@jakekang
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
the real issue is if they bought that aeron chair for $1,000. startups should be getting them for second hand furniture stores or from other startups that liquidated
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Michael Grinich
@grinich
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
This is a bad take IMO.
If someone is sitting all day they should have a good chair. Aerons are ergonomic and last forever. Same with standing desks. They're not toys.
Perks to cut are expensive lunches, lavish travel, opulent parties, etc. Not the chair and desk.
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Bruno Faviero
@Bfaviero
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Those are a dime a dozen from startup closure move out sales
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Architect🛡️
@Architect9000
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
With respect, this isn't an insight, this is a sign you've never been an engineer.
Good chair + desk and an apartment with no furniture should be telling you that the subject company is a pragmatic allocator of capital.
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Thomas Schiavone
@thomasschiavone
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Dumb take. Aeron is $500 to $1000.
Get people a good chair, a good desk, a good computer/monitor. These are the tools of the trade. $5K to $8K all in.
It’s nothing compared to their salary and they can used for years. Improved ergonomics are worth it.
Dumb perks, yes. Don’t buy. But these aren’t perks. They are how work gets done.
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Rishi Dean
@rishidean
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Yeah, damn right! They should sit on a cardboard box! And turn of heat and A/C while we’re at it!
Do the best work of your life, so the founders can take money off the table, and pay early employees under market, and waiting 10+ years to IPO!! #NoGrindNoPaper
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Corey Coto
@coreycoto
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
This is the only acceptable chair for an automatic standing desk.
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Christina Haftman@Cr8DigitalAsset
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Quietly observe how well people are a steward of other people's money. Especially founders with venture capital.
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Harad@harad
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
The Chief of Staff and Chief Innivation Officer deserve good back support
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Mike Cane@mikecane
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
Bingo! Those chairs flooded bankruptcy sales during the dotcom bust.
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Latent Node
@latent_node
May 23
Replying to @marcrandolph
What about if they all have a treadmill desk? Would that make the company healthy?
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Alex Skryl
@ssskryl
May 24
Replying to @marcrandolph
Joke is on you. Nobody buys new Aeron chairs.
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Nicolas Nowinski
@nicknow
May 24
Replying to @marcrandolph
No startup is...