We paid 20% of our employees $25,000 to quit

Ephemera's leader offered every employee $25,000 to quit after admitting the company had oversold its culture to recruits from Big Tech, and six people accepted. The offer also paid another $25,000 for each year of tenure, and the company rewrote its culture guide to stress skill, passion, execution and radical ownership. The leader said those who quit sent kind messages, those who stayed were more fired up, and the only regret was not doing this sooner. The company reports raising $50 million in total, including $25 million recently.