Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down
When I launched 70MR in 2016, I was motivated to build a company that could short circuit the pernicious cycles of recidivism in this country--cycles that destroy lives, tear apart families and decimate communities. I sought to disrupt the sleepy reentry industry by applying technology, focusing on data, employing an aggressive, accountable team, and moving with some urgency. And for the first time, approaching the challenge as a national, for-profit venture.
This approach, which I named “RaaS,” (Reentry as a Service), turned out to be wildly effective, and by the beginning of 2020, we were delivering on our mission of driving “double bottom line returns”: build a big, successful business and do massive social good. With the help of Y Combinator and nearly 1,500 investors, I assembled a team and got to work.
We succeeded in facilitating employment for thousands of deserving men and women and became operationally profitable.
However, the pandemic had other plans for us. When it hit in force in March 2020, companies made wholesale terminations of nearly all our people, and continued their halt in hiring for two years.
Our revenue dropped like a rock to almost nothing. I immediately responded by paring our expenses to the bone and began letting team members go. There was no opportunity to raise additional funding, so I began injecting my own money into the company—money I barely have—just to keep the lights on.
When the economy and job market began storming back, we were inundated with inbound requests for our services. Our perseverance seemed to be paying off. Except now we were hit with a new gut punch: “The Great Resignation.” Now our workers were reticent to come back to work. And if they did accept a job, they’d often leave after only a few days.
It became obvious that we lacked the resources to weather this new storm while hoping and praying the world would normalize soon. (It still hasn’t.)
Our coffers are empty. We’ve incurred a relatively small amount of debt (that I personally guaranteed) that I hope to negotiate down. All employees have been paid what they were owed (except for me). I will explore sale of assets we hold.
On a personal note, I can’t tell you how grateful and humbled I’ve been that many would entrust their investment or business with me. For a person who’s done time in prison (me), it’s almost impossible to ask for someone’s trust. I have not yet forgiven myself for things I did which ultimately got me into trouble. But I will be eternally grateful to those that assisted me in my efforts to settle the score and win back my karma.
From the beginning I was blessed by an unbelievable team of smart, funny, passionate young people who shared my ambition to cause change. They stuck with me/us until the very end.
I’m most saddened by the millions of formerly incarcerated men and women who we won’t be able to help. These are some of the most sincere, honest, and heroic people I’ve ever met. It was my life’s honor to work with them.
I’m pretty sure I’ll continue my reentry work. Several prominent organizations have indicated their interests in me assuming a leadership role. I need to work, and I need to continue my work.
I’m so sorry for this outcome, despite the good we’ve done. I’m not sure we could have done anything differently or better, but ultimately, I take full responsibility. Needless to say, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out, here or at Richard@70MillionJobs.com.
This has been the greatest experience of my life; it couldn’t have happened without my getting a second chance.
Richard
377 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 105 ms ] threadWere you able to apply for PPP (and other covid related) loans / grants? I feel like of all businesses, yours should have been easy to get something like that.
Sustained for a while, and then suddenly you realize that's the end of that.
Thanks for trying, it's more than most do. My genuine condolences you were unable to maintain traction due to the macro.
(agree with 0des' sibling comment, hibernate the effort vs this being the death of it)
Depends who gave the money.
I'm sorry the company didn't work out but I am so happy there are people like you in this world doing such a good thing. I hope there is a way to resurrect your project in future.
Take the job so you dont starve, and so you can begin to rebuild. It's not time to shut the doors, it's just time to take a knee and get your game plan together. It ain't over yet, it's just halftime.
This will help: https://marker.medium.com/reflecting-on-my-failure-to-build-...
It’s hard to find discussions about the real downsides of using VC money. For instance, what happens when growth fails? Do you lose ownership of the business? From reading this, the answer seems to be: Kind of, yeah. You have to buy your way back.
Another one: What happens if you want to do something extremely risky? My project is a game; what if an asteroid impact seems best for the design, but runs the risk of literally destroying the player base? I can’t imagine that would receive creative encouragement.
So as the author said, it depends on how value is to be measured.
> For instance, what happens when growth fails?
C level purge, or outright shuttering the business. This is more of a question of, when will my benefactors tire of gambling on this concept I am building.
> Do you lose ownership of the business?
Usually, in most cases, you give up part of the business to attain the funding, sometimes a board seat. When this happens, if you no longer hold the majority of the voting shares and seats, you can lose the business. If you have cofounders or partners, they may be pressured or persuaded to sell their share, so one VC not being the majority doesnt entirely mean you are safe. The only true safety is being a solo founder, which is why solo founders are encouraged to find a cofounder. Not only can most people not do everything themselves, but a solo founder is not easily broken once theyve made up their mind. There is no "mom" to play against "dad" when a CEO doesn't want to "play ball" with a VC's inane growth plan.
Your assessment is correct, in most cases, unless you are gumroad, you will have to buy back any stake you have sold/bequeathed.
> What happens if you want to do something extremely risky?
If you think it makes sense, do it. If you have a board you have to run it through first, this may not be as straightforward, because youll have to repitch a LOT and revalidate "feelings" and other nonsense.
> My project is a game;
That's awesome, you probably wont have to worry about any of this because most VC, unless theyre in this arena already, will not fund or even entertain a game. Theyll say "go to a publisher" or just outright ignore you. Im not trying to be mean, I love games, I love money.
> what if an asteroid impact seems best for the design, but runs the risk of literally destroying the player base? I can’t imagine that would receive creative encouragement.
Be careful of any VC that would take issue with creative direction decisions. It is important that you and they know that they are the money, you are the talent. If they had the talent and the idea, they'd be bootstrapping your business themselves. There are only so many hours in the day, and irons in the fire. You have all the hours of the day to spend on one iron in your fire. A VC has the hours outside of their things to focus on the myriad of irons in their fire.
One last thing: I know you didnt ask, but if you start to circle the drain and nobody is wanting to invest, dont get desperate and take money from family, people you care about, or especially people who arent a professional VC. Youre going to be afraid to take the chances and leaps necessary to deliver a possible return on their money and success to your concept. Similarly, small VCs can be a hinderance in the way that you're their one horse, and bigger startups havent delivered the returns that would relax them into trusting their instinct and letting their investment be a catalyst rather than a shackle.
VC money is not like kickstarter where it means they have input. That is what board seats are for, and the more money people you put there, and the less industry people you put there, the harder it will be to explain industry concepts which frankly shouldnt be your job.
Dont take VC money for a game. Be broke for a while, work a job, grind it out in your free time. Youll thank yourself. Research Bay12games.
Aha, that's a mystery solved. Luckily no one would be crazy enough to cofound. And I've heard the same thing about games not receiving VC money. There's the metaverse pitch, but that's just a stampede.
Thank you for taking the time to detail your advice here! That was tremendously helpful. Great point about creative decisions, family/friends, and small firms. This may all help people reading it more than you'll know.
I'm 10 years in and could learn a lot from Dwarf Fortress. Including how to use composable components (most Roguelikes seem to).
maybe because this is a forum, that belongs to the most prominent VC in the world?
> For instance, what happens when growth fails? Do you lose ownership of the business?
nothing, besides losing trust in your business’s ability to succeed, therefor not putting any more money in it
consider this: VCs are typically in hundred-million ranges, $500k for them is a rounding error, they only care about those companies that can show the promised growth
> What happens if you want to do something extremely risky?
that’d be actually great
more risk = more reward
> My project is a game
a thing about which no VC in the world cares
unless you promise it will become a “Metaverse”
> I can’t imagine that would receive creative encouragement
that’s not what you need a VC for, you need a VC for two things only: their money, their connections/status
As in the workers you placed, employees of 70MR? Why would they leave after a few days? Can you expand on this?
It became obvious that we lacked the resources to weather this new storm while hoping and praying the world would normalize soon. (It still hasn’t.)
What does normalize mean to you (or 70MR)?
What’s the scale of this? For example, how many people accepted a job and then quit within a few days?
How did it impact these people’s lives? For example, did this result in increased recidivism? If so, at what scale?
I dunno if it’s even about money. The pandemic and the way it was handled REALLY messed with a lot of people’s heads. I’d say a not insignificant number of people had what amounts to a religious awakening of sorts. I’ve seen it myself, several people just deciding to make drastic life changes out of the blue.
Was this enough to make a large number of people stop working, even now into mid-2022? I really feel like the impact of several thousand dollars would be gone after a year, at most. yet many businesses near me are still under staffed and having trouble hiring.
You're forgetting the child tax credit as well, which was effectively a monthly stimulus check for many, and student loan forbearance, which nets out to something like $10B/month in increased consumer spending power
1. Older people taking retirement early when the pandemic hit.
2. People in service/public-facing industries leaving for jobs that could be done remotely, or going back to school.
3. Several hundred thousand working age people dying from COVID.
It all boils down to survival of the fittest and history repeatedly shows and the the US Govt & US Mil demonstrates, violence always wins the day.
a. The official number is ~254,000 (in the USA) which is certainly a major over-estimate. True number is certainly far less.
b. Employees who died or retired don't count as resigned.
Can you point me to your source(s) indicating the lower number you’re referring to?
Then summing the 18-65 buckets (working age).
A lot of people for various reasons have never seen more than a thousand or two in their checking account at once (typically, from tax refunds). So, 8000 is a once-in-a-lifetime amount of wealth. It's sad to think of what's happening at a higher level of course. The government was borrowing money on behalf of everyone and telling everyone to go spend it. Thanks, uncle, I wasn't stupid enough already.
I saw more than a few people that when from 2 income house holds to 1 because of Student Loan payment defers and the increase cost of Child care made is possible for one of the parents to just stay home..
We also sadly lost a lot of people to covid, and many older people have chosen to retire rather than return to the office.
I think these 3 things are more impactful on the employment market than the direct payments
I would think the state would have protections against this type of thing, but maybe not.
https://edd.ca.gov/en/unemployment/eligibility/
I think they are so overwhelmed at EDD that her request was just pushed along through the process. There are so many stories of fraud at EDD that you have to wonder how much time the claims processors are spending on each application.
Technically, yes, but the system is so overwhelmed in many locations that unemployment requests are almost automatically approved. You have to work hard to appeal it after the fact and a lot of employers just give up.
My claim in CA was approved in 2020; I don't recall if that language was on the page or not at the time. Although I never got paid anything due to ID verification failure later in the process (clogged phone lines meant I never learned the reason, I gave up after a few weeks and a couple snail mails).
I was also fired in 2016 and paid out at that time, having told the UI interviewer that the employer didn't follow their dispute resolution process (breach of contract, in retrospect).
Here in Europe we call that vacation.
That's pretty neat and not common here.
Are they job hopping, in which case wouldn't that also be a revenue stream for 70MR? Did they find that it was such a sellers' market that they didn't need 70MR's services to get good jobs anymore?
I never really understood this "shortage of workers / great resignation" phenomenon to begin with, so perhaps this specific situation would be a good one to use as a concrete example.
The same way companies offer a bonus to current employees if they recommend some for hire and they maintained their employment for 90 days or so.
But if the applicant pool is bad with the majority quitting then I could see employers leaving the platform.
https://www.70millionjobs.com/page/pricing
This is truly sad. I think the business model is still high in demand but maybe not right now as companies all over are paring down expenses and tightening coffers.
Bravo! I sincerely hope you try again.
There are very strange earthquakes and disconnects happening in the labor market right now and I appreciate seeing this honest perspective on the reality you were trying to change.
That'll be the day. I wonder what poor Dan G. and company would do with their lives then?
i'm sure your company will be missed by those who you helped get new opportunities in life
it's better to try and fail changing the world, than never try, live a meaningless, unfulfilling, but comfortable life
you gave a shot, but i'm sure you didn't run out of ammo!
try again next time!
https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offen...
Only a little over 1/3rd are actually in prison for violent crime.
My understanding is that while the rate of prisoners with drug charges is high, the rate of prisoners with only drug charges is a lot lower.
On that chart, I was a little bit surprised to see the percentages for:
...are as high as they are (although probably not that high in absolute numbers) for federal prison. I wonder where one could find a breakdown of the offenses? I'd have thought the only way to get a federal rape or murder sentence would be to commit the act on an FBI agent or other on-duty federal agent (Secret Service, US Marshals, Postman, others?). But I guess maybe soldiers who have been court-martialed end up in federal prison? That might explain most of those? And maybe kidnapping becomes a federal offense if you cross state lines?Here's a breakdown by most serious offense for my state's prison system:
https://www.doc.sc.gov/research/InmatePopulationStats/ASOF-M...
Which has 16% drugs, but also:
26% homicide, 12% Robbery, 11% Burglary, 9.5% Rape/Sexual assault, 6.6% Kidnapping, 6.4% Assault.
I wrote an blog post a while back about how prison populations skew so much towards the most violent crimes.
http://braino.org/essays/why_so_many_people_in_prison/
Just from a harm reduction standpoint, this is a bad idea. You will absolutely increase the amount of crime in the world. I think the world is better when we don't know about all the misdeeds of every random person.
if you had some free time to volunteer and wanted a mission reach out here....
https://www.underdogdevs.org
and on Twitter @UnderdogDevs
That's not how the "criminal justice system" works. Not in the US and not in most of the rest of the world, especially the "first world"/"Western world".
Prisoners are NOT release only once they are deemed no longer dangerous. They are release once their allotted prison time is over. They can still be dangerous and released, and they can be not dangerous at all from they one and still go to prison.
Also: Choosing to like someone and dislike someone else, choosing whom you assist when not obligated by law and whom you don't, choosing who gets your time and who doesn't - all of this is not part of the punishment people are sentenced to by the state court system and thus it is not "over" in any sense or way once they are release from prison. You, I, and Mr. sowwww are free to volunteer our time, money and efforts towards whom and what we'd like and we're under no obligation to assist people we don't like just because "they have served their sentence and their punishment is over".
It's sad that the amount of money floating around doesn't pour into a company like yours.
money is put where profits are
this seems like a low-margin low-profit business
it’s not the investors who are the problem, it’s the capitalist system which encourages this behavior
Can you clarify: Were the employees of your 70MR organization hesitant to return to work and quitting after a few days? Or were the people who requested your services quitting jobs several days after placement?
On a recidivism-related tangent, a close friend of mine runs a nonprofit called "Guitars Behind Bars" -- https://guitarsbehindbars.com -- which does like it says on the tin, providing instruments and a musical outlet to convicts. It's had profound positive effects on the inmates who've participated (and their jailers/wardens, too). Bringing it up here bc stories about helping ex-convicts don't often feature on the HN front page.
Power to you, Richard. Keep fighting the good fight, and thank you for being a light for others.
Is this because the people you were representing were mostly in sectors affected by the pandemic (travel, restaurant, etc), or were they were mostly "contingent workforce" jobs that are first to be cut?
I was a convicted felon at 18 years old, poor, living on the street.
It wasn't any government re-integration program that helped me, it was a random person I met in highschool.
I worked my way through everything -> college -> jobs -> startups -> lucky windfalls -> owning my own company. I've immigrated to Europe (3 times in the last 10 years technically), beating the legal issues each time.
And finally, after 17 years, I'm no longer a felon thanks to a pardon and expungement.
I really wish something like 70MR would stay up. Not everyone can be as lucky as me. Is there some place I can donate?
Thanks for the idea.
Richard, I'll shoot you an email.
Post to HN if this moves forward and you want volunteers / low paid staff - currently I dn't know how you find thsiad volunteers when you are finally ready.
If you need clients I expect corp to corp agreements with established recruitment agencies would be a good place to start generating revenues.
By far, the bigger business is the staffing company, and it requires lots of people to land large corporate accts and service them day-to-day and drive job-seeker acquisition. People are expensive, as you know.
I would hope that at the very least the job board continues. It would be a big loss to have it all disappear. I wish you all the best!
Another option is to go live in a Compact of Free Association nations such as Micronesia or Marshall Islands. US citizens are authorized to live and work there without a visa, so once you live overseas there for a few years you can immigrate to most other nations using the background check from your country of prior residence, which is now a country where you have a clear background.
People have the opportunity to become a new person, and it's not just those with a criminal past either. Perhaps those who have experienced persecution can also start a new chapter in a safer environment.
That’s a fresh start that just simply was impossible in the US.
Fuck at this point let’s start throwing debtors in prison. At least we’ll shelter people who might otherwise be homeless.
IF you formerly had a very high wage job it can also be nearly impossible to convince a judge that your 'imputed income' should fall again, even if industry has shifted and you no longer can find those high wage jobs anymore. 20% of your pre-tax imputed income can easily become the majority or worse of your post-tax income if the bottom falls out of your industry, and then you are fucked.
There is a law requiring the removal of debts over 7 years old. The only “report” that it would stay on is with an internal report with the specific bank.
EDIT: And only speak e̶n̶g̶l̶i̶s̶h̶ a single language.
1) Marshall islands or Micronesia. Buy flight on credit, do farm or whatever labor you can to eat while you get booted. No visa needed to live or work.
2) Some nations such as Argentina have effectively no immigration enforcement. Once you're in the country you're good and you can file a court case to become a citizen immediately (you'll have to wait 2+ year for it to be granted). In the meantime the legal system in Argentina has to treat you as a citizen while you're waiting on your case.
If you truly have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and no access to credit you may be able to hitchhike and/or work on boats/yachts to get to any nation in the Americas.
3) Or, not recommending it, but you can be like the illegal immigrants. Enter somewhere on a tourist visa and take informal jobs like illegal immigrants do. Seems to work for some of them in a variety of European and South American countries.
4) Join a foreign militia/military. French foreign legion, Ukraine. Also YPG and some Kurdish militias I think still accepts recruits and they don't require anything past your flight which you could buy on credit. French foreign legion will grant you citizenship after two contracts and will feed you in the meanwhile, even while you're trying out.
5) Work with an English teaching organization that does not perform FBI background check. Some exist but they may not be plentiful. They may help you get a job in a new nation.
6) Marry a Brazilian (or few other nations). Many jurisdictions in Brazil will issue a permanent residence visa without much scrutiny if you are married or have a Brazilian child. Believe Cape Verde also gives instant citizenship for marriage.
7) IF you can enter Philippines on 'Balakbayan' visa (married to Filipino) then you'll be issued a 1 year visa without scrutiny. After 6 months in the country they don't require background checks from anywhere but Philippines. Wait 7 months after entering, use your spouse to apply for work and permanent visa.
First, flying on credit isn't nearly as easy as you make it out to be. Yes, a bunch of companies are buy now, pay later. They fall into two groups. The first does it based on your credit. The second is a layaway plan - by the time you get on the plane you've managed to pay in full. Ex-cons struggling to get a job usually have neither. Nobody wants to give money to a person who looks like they are trying to disappear. (Because you just know your money is going to disappear with them...)
Second, a lot of your plans require going to countries where you need another language. That's going to be a challenge for most ex-cons.
Third, while the French Foreign Legion is romantic and all, they won't take you if they find you have a criminal record. Other foreign legions are similar. They might not find out, but do you want to spend your life savings betting on that?
Fourth, marrying someone from another country is an uphill battle for someone who lacks a job. Particularly when most of the women from those countries looking to marry an American would like to wind up in the USA rather than the reverse.
These are all amazing plans, and I'm sure that some succeed with each. But they're going to work out poorly for most ex-cons who try them.
My statement is direct towards goal oriented people who want to succeed and are willing to iteratively test their options until something works. Not failures who are unwilling to take a risk or work for a reward. If you can't get a credit card, then hitchhike and/or volunteer on a yacht or just be homeless and work day labor that doesn't check your record until you've saved up a chunk.
An individual who is capable of success is capable of tirelessly executing options until they find one that works. And that is possible. Staying in the US means you will never fully regain your civil rights if convicted of a federal crime. Leaving means you have the chance of having the full civil rights of a citizen, somewhere.
Regarding going out of country, I have joined a foreign militia prior that had some ex-cons in it, that did not require anything other than a plane ticket to join. I did not know the language, but learned (some of it) along the way. Travelling extensively you learn to communicate without knowing much of the language. I believe I paid for that ticket with a credit card.
So out of my "Several Options" I can personally say (4) would work and been tested by me. Domestically I can say hitch-hiking to an oil field and sleeping in a ditch until you can afford better would work (met lots of felons that did same). I also married a filipina while I was completely broke, so (7) would work as well although I haven't personally done it, it would be trivial for me to execute it.
Sure, I had to have a skill to begin with, but saying you can't do it is wrong. Just most people won't do it because they think they can't do it.
My income quote comes from a gas station in a backwater town in the deep woods of Alabama, and I'm not a great guitarist or something amazing worth throwing money at.
This is not true unless you are wanted by interpol or a very serious record such as murder.
For an American, might crossing into Canada be an easier option?
And if someone was desperate enough to try to hide a US criminal record, Canada is the last country they should try, because Canada and the US share their criminal history databases.
1: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/se...
The page is pretty plain language reading which makes it appear very trustworthy.
However, they avoid explicitly saying that past crimes - whether convicted and served or not - don't matter. The DO say that catching the eye of Interpol is bad.
I'm not saying your suggestions are 100% impossible, but they're more for people who are on the run (i.e. very desperate) rather than those with a conviction.
How does this work? Do you just go to the docks and start asking randos if they’re going to X and also looking for labor?
> Also YPG and some Kurdish militias I think still accepts recruits and they don't require anything past your flight which you could buy on credit.
Not sure I’d recommend this in particular unless you’re really truly willing and ready to die. Sure, any military service where your in a combat role is a significant risk increase, but this feels distinct from joining something like the , backed by a secure NATO-aligned government, with new and top of the line equipment. As FFL, I imagine most any combat you see these days is going to be against insurgents that you have the upper hand on. Whereas going to fight with the YPG you may end up vice versa.
FWIW a friend of a friend did this, and indeed was killed rather soon.
I got a 'free' ticket from Seattle to Alaska once by working on a boat :)
>FWIW a friend of a friend did this, and indeed was killed rather soon.
Sorry to hear that. I was in YPG for a few months in 2015. You're right it is dangerous, especially for those who are especially brave or end up in a unit that really embraces 'sehid' (martyr) culture. Rojava also offers some civil volunteer opportunities. Generally if you act like a criminal / psycho / weirdo you get filtered out before you can do much damage. There's no paperwork but I think parts of the middle east operate by the old code of a man being judged by his actions rather than formal paperwork from the state.
I have no personal experience with FFL. I know it's much more selective than YPG. The upside is you get French Citizenship. Therefore there is healthy competition with people from the 3rd world seeking a relatively high wage and EU citizenship.
Seattle->Alaska I got as part of a contract to work on the boat, but it was a flight. The boat was closed circuit route in the sea and a single port (Dutch Harbor).
Sure, but when I look at things like Nextdoor this is the prevailing attitude regardless of whether it’s true or not.
My experience in hitchhiking was the same ha ha, probably half the drivers were smoking while driving.
This seems like a really silly hill to die on.
We are talking island states, perhaps Thailand, Eastern Europe.
East Asia would not be my choice for legal residency as a felon. Although I would note if you're not applying for a visa, they rarely actually have mechanisms to check your criminal record unless someone influential takes a specific liking to you.
As I mentioned there are a number of nations that only require background check from countries you've lived in for the past X years. Therefore if you live somewhere else for X years you can then leapfrog to that country.
If you're not comfortable with a cash donation, perhaps I can volunteer my time, or just be another inbox you hit up when you need to bounce an idea off someone.
Maybe think of it this way? There are those of us who want to help but for whatever reasons can only feasibly do so though donations, if you were to accept our charity it would allow us to be part of the solution even if only a little.
In any event, may God bless you and may you succeed beyond your wildest dreams.
The past doesnt matter, only the present moment does and it's wonderful.
I don't know enough about your business. Why does employee mobility hurt you?
But curious about this...
> When the economy and job market began storming back, we were inundated with inbound requests for our services. Our perseverance seemed to be paying off. Except now we were hit with a new gut punch: “The Great Resignation.” Now our workers were reticent to come back to work. And if they did accept a job, they’d often leave after only a few days.
Why were they leaving after only a few days when before they weren't?
"It’s not a labor shortage — it’s a wage and workers rights shortage" https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/570441-its-not-a-labor-s...
"Our employment system has failed low-wage workers. How can we rebuild?" https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/04/28/our-emplo...