Could Salt Lake City Become a Future Fintech Hub? 

#FinTech #FinServ #Banking #SiliconSlopes

https://www.globaltrademag.com/could-salt-lake-city-become-a-future-fintech-hub/

Salt Lake City Makes Strides to Cement Itself as a Fintech Hub

#FinTech #FinServ #Banking #SiliconSlopes

https://www.paymentsjournal.com/salt-lake-city-makes-strides-to-cement-itself-as-a-fintech-hub/

Live blogging at #SiliconSlopes with Derek White, CEO of Galileo

About half of all Silicon Slopes firms in Utah have money in Silicon Valley Bank. That represents payroll for thousands of employees. If the fed wasn't going to step in, Utah's political leaders say they were prepared to: https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/utah-leaders-portray-calm-stability-after-fall-of-silicon-valley-bank #utpol #Utah #SLC #SiliconValleyBank #SiliconSlopes

Qualtrics was already on my "do not work" list for shady government contracting practices. It's not a surprise to see them join the other #Utah tech "unicorns" in doing mass layoffs. #SiliconSlopes likes to say "this is just how it is", yet plenty of smaller Utah tech companies focused on steady and sustainable growth aren't being financially clobbered right now. The weird mix of Silicon Valley ethos and BYU-influenced prosperity gospel bros isn't good for the state's tech sector. https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/01/13/qualtrics-reduce-staff-silicon/

There's nothing wrong at all about recruiting overseas. When you lay off a bunch of the company weeks before Christmas to do it, you have to at least be cognizant of how it looks. A smarter strategy would have been to start hiring there, backfill open positions from there, and gradually transition the workforce. This sudden move reeks of bad management. #utah #UtahTech #SiliconSlopes https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/12/23/utahs-pluralsight-moving-jobs/

With so many #SiliconSlopes unicorns laying off people, in many cases without the required notice or severance provided by the WARN Act, it's pretty galling to see their de facto PR and lobbying firm attempt to whitewash the problem with a job fair. There's a lot of hay made about the #UtahWay and #Utah being different, but the big tech firms seem to not be all that different from Silicon Valley. Well, except they seem to be far more cruel in their actions to employees while putting on a much "kinder" face about it, but that's hardly an improvement. We should stop elevating a company that has cruel indifference in its actions and attempts to compensate with public prostration.

I honestly expect much better from them. Most of them are my co-religionists, #LDS members who went to BYU and should have higher ethical standards. Unfortunately, I see a lot of the blasphemous #ProsperityGospel in their words and deeds. Mixed with cutthroat #SiliconValley VC culture and it's a toxic brew.

I've ended up with a growing list of large Utah tech companies I don't want to do business with, much less work for, because of their gross culture and employee treatment. Entrata. Qualtrics. Domo. HireVue. Now also Podium and PluralSight.

PS Utah's tech scene needs an association for the small guys and individual practitioners. We need to make a clean break from the celebrity CEO worship, bowing to F500 members, and big IPOs. Just the people that get stuff done.