Notice something a bit strange about Killstar’s LinkedIn page? They no longer have photos of the people running the show; no Director Head Of Global Operations or Operation Professional MBA photos. Proof that they are really trying to hide the fact that the private equity firm Bertram Capital has a major stake in the company. The funny thing about this is that the way I found out about Bertram Capital was from the photo of Tom Beerle whose profile said he was a partner with the firm on Killstar’s old LinkedIn page. One of them is probably Beerle and the other Tequila-Rose Hanses, who is the original owner. Too late Killstar, too late. Here is a link of the article I wrote explaining Beerle and his role in the company in case you are catching up with the saga.
Since Killstar is laying off their remote workers who refuse to move to Brighton they have listed some job openings. I found something quite telling about the role Product Technologist. They have to report their findings not to a manager but to ‘stakeholders’. Oh, it gets better.
Working with a team and then having to report to multiple stakeholders? What I get from this is that Bertram Capital wants a say in every single product or idea that crosses their desk, even though they don’t really know anything about alternative subcultures. This has been proven with their Avril Lavigne collection disaster. I can’t imagine that it would be a healthy work environment at all. You know quite a bit about alternative subcultures and you design something that you know ‘alternative’ type people would like, and then being told by the ‘stakeholder’ from Bertram Capital that the design doesn’t work. On top of that you would more than likely also have to run the design past Tequila-Rose since she is also still a ‘stakeholder’. What happens if the two sides don’t agree, does she get the last word or does Bertram Capital?
I suspect that Bertram Capital are the ones who insisted that the company be moved from Glasgow to Brighton. They probably think the area is more ‘hip’ than Glasgow. Plus, it is closer to London. However, what they didn’t manage to fit into the equation is that it is very expensive to live in Brighton. Personally, I think all of this is going to backfire spectacularly.
Bertram Capital and Tequila-Rose have done fucked up and are in the stage of finding out.
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