Some would answer no.  Me? I say yes.

Today, CBC reported that Salesforce.com would be cutting 200 jobs in the wake of a recent acquisition, ExactTarget, that has created more overlap with its MarketingCloud division, a big part of which is the former Radian6.  If you’re a New Brunswicker, you know that Radian6 was founded in Fredericton and sold in 2011 to Salesforce for north of $300 million.  You can read the story about the layoffs here but what I’d like to talk about is why we should still be optimistic about what the long-term opportunities that will flow out of the Radian6/Salesforce deal.

Many of the comments from readers on the CBC website sounded like people were pissed off at Salesforce.  Give me a break.  Did we really think that a company based in Fredericton was going to continue to grow its staff in a real way here, when the mother ship is a global company with headquarters in Silicon Valley?  If so, I think we’re being a bit naive.

Here’s my view.

1.  Without a doubt, it is a sad day anytime we learn that our friends are losing their jobs.  But these things happen all the time… everywhere.  There’s no geography that is completely immune to this sort of thing.

2.  I believe that Salesforce is likely to honour whatever commitments it has with the provincial government.  Maybe I’m naive but I doubt it.  If there are contractual obligations, I expect they’ll be appropriately handled or dealt with.

3.  I don’t think a guarantee of a few hundred jobs staying in the province is the value of Radian6’s sale to Salesforce.

The value is the money that flowed into the province as a result of a $300+ million sale.  What’s going to happen with that money… fancy cars, mansions and boats?  Absolutely!  Who wouldn’t?  But when those short-term itches are scratched by the founders and investors in Radian6, what do you think happens?  Another, more important itch is going to need scratching…

I think they try to do it again… They look to be investors (now with more cash) in other new ventures.  R&D receives a huge injection… Innovation climbs … More ideas get off the ground… start-ups get an even better lift.  The entire entrepreneurial ecosystem expands.  Next thing you know, there are dozens of new companies, each employing 5, 10, 20, 50 staff.  And they’re going to grow… and grow… to 100, 200… what if there’s another Chalk Media or Radian6 or Q1 Labs among them.  Silicon Valley wasn’t built in a day and Boston didn’t become a tech hub overnight.

There are smart people here in little New Brunswick and we’re in the early days of our own entrepreneurial revolution… This is still just the beginning of a very good thing.  A deal like the Radian6 sale isn’t about maintaining a few hundred “good jobs” with Salesforce, it’s about the hundreds of new opportunities that arise from the wealth and capital that was injected into the region… that’s the value.  And the possibilities truly are endless.

Yes, it sucks to lose your job but there are so many other opportunities and the ecosystem is getting so much stronger here (and so quickly) that I’d be surprised if everyone doesn’t pivot to something even better, in a very short amount of time.

Cheers.