Sep 4, 2020
Zillow Response
5yI appreciate the time you took to voice your concerns and glad to see you feel like Rich is doing a great job as CEO. I hope you'll reach out to me directly (davebei@zillowgroup.com) so I can better understand your thoughts on our tech organization. I would say that I don't share your comments on our technology or talent. We have incredible engineers at all levels in the organization and am incredibly proud of the products and technologies we have built and are using. There are some areas of our tech stack and processes that need ongoing investment as we look to upgrade longer running areas of our product and look at new models of building and shipping services. I am pleased with the progress we have made in this area over the last few years and hope to work with you and other Principal engineers who bring new ideas. It is definitely not a status quo environment, so please continue to share those ideas. We continue to be excited by the opportunity and work we are doing to transform real estate technology. In terms of compensation we provide annual renewal grants that take the place of sign-on and provide employees with the choice between RSUs and Stock Options for additional upside opportunities. We don’t cap salaries and offer renewal grants annually so employees continue to gain as the company grows like it has in 2020. There can be many interpretations of the word ‘politics’ and I don't want to assume to understand your usage of it. That said, if topics like equity, belonging, racism, and inclusion feel political at work then yes, we are being intentional in making those statements and we will continue to do so.