Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

Wallace Colyer was standing in a garage.

It was a day in early February 2015 and Colyer was at Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) development center in San José, Calif. He was addressing more than 250 employees at an all-hands townhall meeting, and the crowd was gathered in a large, open area, bordered by windows that looked out onto the back lot of the carrier's facility.

The garage has rough concrete floors, and the carrier, which had moved a team into the facility in December 2014, had sealed the floors but hadn't finished them because it wanted the space to look rough. It was a Silicon Valley touch that signaled Verizon's desire to develop a little startup flair. The garage has six sets of doors that can be pulled down to divide the space up, but on this day they all were open. Colyer, Verizon's vice president of engineering for its Go90 over-the-top mobile video product, had an important message to deliver.

There was a large group of engineers, developers, user experience designers and product managers assembled in the garage of the facility, which is near Mineta San José International Airport and only five miles from downtown. Many of them had come over to Verizon in early 2014 as part of Verizon's acquisition of Intel's OnCue platform. Many of those at the meeting had been working on IPTV and FiOS TV products, and were not focused on mobile.

Everything was going to change. Colyer told them that they would start working on a mobile-first product. "Burn your old bridges," he told them, and stop thinking of set-top boxes and consumer electronics devices as the way consumers would access video content. And crucially, he said, the new product would be aimed primarily at millennials, Americans born between 1982 and 2000, a group who now number more than 83 million.

Verizon had been edging toward this moment for several months, with a so-called "skunkworks" team developing the foundations of what would become Go90.

"But that was sort of the turning point where we said, this is what we're doing, we're focusing on it, we're going to make a big bet in these areas and we're going to put a significant amount of resources and infrastructure into it," Colyer told FierceWireless.

This is the story of the creation of Go90, Verizon's attempt to create a new service that appeals to a demographic it views as significantly important to its future, as told by some of the key executives involved in its development. It's a story of how Verizon wanted to create a product that would appeal to millennials, driven by a desire to create a large audience the carrier could deliver to marketers for targeted advertising (advertisers have largely been flummoxed by millennials' aversion to traditional pay-TV products).

And more broadly, it's the story of how a multibillion-dollar telecommunications company known for its staid leadership and methodically consistent financial results incubated a startup -- and a startup mentality -- inside itself.

Go90 was launched commercially to all wireless customers, not just those of Verizon, at the beginning of October. There are no guarantees it will succeed in building a large user base of millennials who advertisers can hyper-target with their ads. Verizon's entire strategy is predicated around the idea that it can create enough cool content that millennials will like it and keep coming back to watch, so that it can then deliver that large and reliable audience to advertisers.

So far, the app hasn't exactly been a runaway success, though Verizon plans to market it much more in the near future and add more content. According to app analytics firm App Annie, Go90 has been downloaded between 100,000 and 500,000 times in Google Play, with an average rating of 3.6 out of 5. In Apple's App Store, the app has an average rating of 3.0 out 5, but App Annie does not have figures on how many times it has been downloaded from the Apple app store.

Verizon has invested significant resources in Go90, both internally and through content partnerships. But Verizon will need to work hard to pry millennials away from YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and other OTT services through its mix of curated TV content, original programming and live sports and entertainment.

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said that it's still early days, that "we're in the batter's box in inning one." It's unclear whether Verizon will strike out or hit a home run.

@vga, despite whatever ax it is you have to grind, or whatever chip it is upon your shoulder that is weighing you down so, you need to know it’s very unfair the way you have mischaracterized the generousity that’s been displayed by this company over the years.

You whine “...Secondly, companies give education money because it’s cheaper than training you themselves during the work day. As a result, my training is taking classes on my own time and potentially own money to get credentials that used to be provided on the job...”

Time for a Fake News Reality check.

Thousands upon thousands have been generously provided college degrees in telecommunications over the past 25 or so years, during which time it was 100% on the company’s dime, and 100% on the company’s time.

So, in the future, before you go off half-c---ed maligning a benevolent benefactor before you have all the facts, take a deep breath and, relax.

Truth is more important than angry, misguided, agenda-driven BS, meant to deceive.

NPR interviewed someone who said 20-30 years ago there were many jobs that only required a high school diploma but now want a PhD to do exactly the same thing. Secondly, companies give education money because it's cheaper than training you themselves during the work day. 8k per year is three equivalent of a week or two of inhouse training... as a result, my training is taking classes on my own time and potentially own money to get credentials that used to be provided on the job. Worst part is the credentials you get, usually an MBA, don't help with company structure, policies or systems and therefore had very limited benefit to you or the company. Credentials are like the 401k trick where they tell you a 401k is better than a pension but really screws you just like not providing meaningful training makes you easily replaceable because they haven't invested much in you compared to previous comprehensive company training plans. That tap money is just a marketing tool they know costs less because most won't take it.

@crb, I think you’re making a giant generalization . I know of many that earned the MBA degree in the 90’s that are either still here, or stayed deep into the 2000’s.

Maybe it was something else. Perhaps it was instead attributable to a lack of necessity for the task that was being performed within your organization, that it wasn’t adding value, or aligned with the planned direction?

It was tough when it dropped to $8k for some, who were in the middle of costly programs.

Was Riffed several years back, however, I have seen a different side to this TAP. Everyone in our org chain that took advantage of education benefits was shortly(within a year of so) Riffed. Some in mid semester and had to go thru a bunch of hassle to finish and get reimbursed or some didn't bother, they were so tired of it all. It bacame the norm that if you wanted to stick around VZ longer, don't bother taking classes on VZ's dime, otherwise you're a marked target.

meant to write "I still learned a lot from the education Verizon was paying for."

This is in response to "MBA won't get you squat" -

While your mileage may vary, the degree I was working toward at Verizon's expense DID HELP ME GET A BETTER JOB (with better being defined as better title, better money, closer to home, in a more stable industry).

I am speaking from experience. I already left Verizon and having my MBA underway DID help me. It was one more thing I had that the other applicants didn't. They were impressed that I was continuing my education.

I also used it as a bargaining chip and got my new employer to agree to finance the balance of it, even tho it is at a school that isn't on their list.

Look, it wasn't Harvard but it was not bad either. My first graduate degree was at an Ivy League school and I still learned a lot the education Verizon was paying.

Maybe an MA or some other degree or certification is more suitable for someone else's career than an MBA, but if you can't figure out a way to make 8K's worth of FREE education work to your advantage... then frankly, you deserve the "squat" that you are so cynically predicting.

exactly, djm. many folks, entire teams even put the effort in for AWS and the lackeys who did nothing were retained.

But they never said of keeping your severance by selling you to other companies. They should have given the option not by taking solo decision on your behalf. The people who took the trainings/ certifications were also sent. The retained people are not worthier than these employees just the favors of directors and above and were offered the package. So, don't cover up.

good luck with that MBA, it doesn't buy squat on the open market these days

I left Verizon earlier this year but I recall that I was stunned at how few people I knew who were taking advantage of the TAP.

In my short time there I am more than halfway through an MBA, which really helped me get a better job when I left.

There is no special approval needed if you stick with the approved schools and programs and there were a lot of possibilities.

I couldn't agree more. In 2015, when RIF's were starting to happen around me, I was sitting with 18 yrs with the company, nothing more than a high school education, and an uncertain future. I quickly took the tuition assistance, near completion of a Bachelors degree , and hopeful that I'm chosen.

yeah we heard you the first time azzhat… and we also mentioned that the VZTAP system of approval of classes is antiquated AF.

Everyone controls their destiny, most importantly the cheaters won't have any destiny that is trying to keep others hard worked money.

Ok HR we hear you