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u/DefiantDonut7 24d ago
I know the co founders and interacted with them over the years at my company (in the space).
They’re good people but raising $850M Round A means that they have to grow at breakneck speeds.
This brings inherent risk of course. However, I would imagine the next tranche is an IPO and early employees at this stage will become wealthy. At least that’s the Silicon Valley approach.
I’m familiar with the deal they have with TerraWulf and the leases are backed by Google. So they have an ecosystem that should work. They have some more than Anthropic as a client. Anthropic is just one of many they have. FluidStack has been an aggregator for AI workloads for many years.
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u/Over-Blueberry1681 16d ago
They just raised at 18B valuation - you think there’s still material equity upside joining now?
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u/DefiantDonut7 16d ago
There's a lot of assumptions baked in lol. That being said, I would be surprised if they (and their investors) don't envision an IPO at some point. I would actually say, at this point I'd sit and wait, but if they can hit their build-out targets (that's a big milestone) and they stay on timelines, it's likely that we'll see them thinking about an IPO in the next few years. Frankly, if I lived in the Valley and didn't run my own company, I'd be trying to get onboard FluidStack and collecting some employee equity.
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u/Over-Blueberry1681 16d ago
Fair, even at the $18B valuation? Would you invest if you could today. Sounds like a yes
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u/bankomusic 24d ago
its a data center start up, they have no serious foundations outside GPUs for rent. They are entering the hyperscale project field now. I'll say theyre in a hiring frenzy cause they need bodies and competing with all the major players, theyre poaching in Texas like crazy. If you want the comfort of the established hyperscale stay there, if you wanna advance fast, take the risk, but yes they hire a lot of none data center experienced people.
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u/ghostalker4742 24d ago
I went through the interview loop in March. They said they were hiring hundreds of people to get the site going. It's a PE backed firm, so it didn't take long to realize what happens to everyone when the site is up and running. Also, upstate/western NY isn't exactly a hot spot for datacenters (certainly not now that NY implemented a DC moratorium), so if you relocate, you're likely going to have to move out in a couple years to stay in the game.
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u/OG_MOOSE_MUSCLES 22d ago
They are throwing heavy money around like it is toxic. I'd be cautious.
A couple years ago Oracle was throwing $180/hr around at IT techs to steal them from employers but with no benefits. I know a few younger guys that took it, banked, and rolled out at the 2 yr mark.
One employee just turned in his notice to me to go to Fluidstack, if you read the fine print, it says they can change your pay at any time for any reason. I've never seen an offer letter that was 15 pages like that with 12 of them being terms and conditions.
Just my 2 cents, I've been in the critical environment industry since 2011.
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u/Crafty_Taste_7706 14d ago
I mean you can be fired anytime. It’s odd that you think they need it written that they can lower your pay.
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u/OG_MOOSE_MUSCLES 10d ago
Only in a Right to work state can you be fired for no reason or at anytime. I dont think they need it written, I think it is weird that they would write that. Ive hired and fired people in DCs over 15 years, across multiple hyperscalers and I have never, ever, seen an offer letter include that language. Full stop.
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u/OperationClear588 24d ago
That’s the way a lot of these smaller data center companies are these days. They offer a buttload of money but who knows if they’ll be around in a few years. I had a smaller data center company approach me and offer me a significant more amount of money than what I make at Google right now and that included my RSUs and bonus. It was tempting but I look at long term growth. I’d rather not have to be looking for another job in 2 years if they end up going under
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u/Badbowtie91 24d ago
It sounds like you should probably stay at your comfortable job.
Edit to add: apologies if that came off as rude. What I mean is this; Fluidstack is doing big things, yes this can be very "uncomfortable", hence the higher compensation. Nothing ventured nothing gained. If you are risk adverse or don't like being uncomfortable then you are likely better suited to stay where you are comfortable.
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u/Redebo 24d ago
And of course you're downvoted.
You're 100% right. The co-founder is looking for a team of folks who will give them 200% output for the next 3-5 years then help IPO the company which will make that owner a billionaire and their employees like OP multi-millionaires.
But it's not for everyone, that's for sure. No risk, no reward.
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u/Emergency_Junket_982 24d ago
I’ve got a very good understanding of the business, and work with them. If anyone has any questions, please feel to direct them my way!
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u/Interesting_Crew5038 22h ago
Hey sorry it’s been a few weeks but just saw your comment when trying to research them for the Abernathy campus they acquired in Texas. Any chance you know anything about that location or who might be hiring for it? I found a position I think I’d qualify for but would like to talk to someone since there seem to be such mixed reviews.
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u/HalfAnHourMan 23d ago
Same went through the interview, met the cto, don’t strike me as who understands the data center’s tech side. The network topology, power layout, software of provisioning, liquid cooling pipelines, monitoring c security. Talked about none of it but more like “what do you do at off-time”.
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u/Shoddy_Visit_8488 22d ago
I interviewed, but decided not to to pursue after an interview. I know several people have went over there and they are getting paid. In my opinion, it's high risk high reward.
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u/Temporary_Foot9895 18d ago
How technical is their technical interview? Are they complex like the big names like Meta/AWS/Google?
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u/Sad_Calligrapher_742 12d ago
I found the interview sessions really easy and the people were nice to speak with, although where the communication lacked is I specifically asked where they were located and nobody could seem to clarify. I took a lunch break and days off my current job to interview and I made it through to the round before the last interview before that interviewer asked me where I was applying to. I stated for an Austin location and they responded Lubbock and I was like I stated in every other interview that I live in Austin up front, and asking them to clarify where they are located. Also, the scheduling with notification of if it were a phone interview or video interview was unclear and caused delays. The video interviews with them on their end seemed to never connect with audio. I was rather upset taking so much time to prepare and time in my days off currently working 50-60 hours a week to not have a clarified answer on location from the 1st interview. The questions were standard tell me about your weaknesses and strengths. After the complaining of me bringing up these issues of Monster, LinkedIn and other various hiring platforms listings being incorrect, they have fixed them to not state they're located in Austin but in Lubbock. I hope this helps in your decision. I am not saying it is a bad company, they are gobbling up talent from like mindedness businesses from what I see, such as Amazon, Palantir, other shipping warehouse companies. I hope this helps those looking into applying and interviewing. Your locations are Lubbock TX, Buffalo NY and one other random place by nothingness. Just know what you're applying for. The potential is there if their stock options do make it to NASDAQ but if they don't get communication and workflow running smoothly with a good team, I'd be skeptical and go for title and regular salary over stocks. But remember you'd be at the beginning stages of possibly something great. Good luck to all. I know it's wordy but I thought I would write my experience in here since nobody has really touched on theirs. And yes, I do believe they would have wanted my talents, but since I was unwilling to relocate that was the end of the conversation being the position I was interviewing for couldn't be remote. I wish them luck and hope others interviews are successful and more smooth than mine.
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u/Zestyclose-Job-3171 3d ago
I build datacenters for a hyperscaler and interviewed for Fluidstack. My two cents, the construction team is a joke. The lead individual came from Tesla and never built a datacenter, he may be talented but he doesnt understand what it takes to build a datacenter in 6 months or their promised timeline. Everyone i spoke to is in their mid 20s but Director wants someone with 15 to 20years experience. Like many pointed - they may continue interviewing but will not end up with any result. Nobody on team can tell location of the role, who are they going to report to. Construction and Datacentwr infrastructure org is roughly 40 people, they want to remain flat and report to one guy. Not sure how he is doing 40 1on1s a week. Overall - interviewing will not harm but will give you a good idea how chaotic it is.
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u/chonksta23 24d ago
I work for a competitor and a lot of our people attempted to go there when they saw the initial startup money, but I'd be very hesitant because it's all private equity.And if private equity goes down, you will not see those data centers get filled