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Full post from Jack Conte's Instagram post: "Hi everyone - I have some sad news to share: today, Patreon is doing a layoff of about 80 employees, about 17% of
by BryanBeshore 4y ago
Full post from Jack Conte's Instagram post:
"Hi everyone - I have some sad news to share: today, Patreon is doing a layoff of about 80 employees, about 17% of our team. This was ultimately my decision, so I wanted you all to hear directly from me about the reasoning.
Before I do, I want to say two things: first, today will be painful for many people, and I am deeply sorry to the incredible teammates who will be leaving Patreon - they are good, kind, creator-first, exceptionally talented, and smart people.
And second, I remember how nerve-racking it was when I was a full time creator - before starting Patreon - to watch companies that I depended on go through moments like this. So for those of you who rely on Patreon for your business and communities: I want to assure you that the company is making this move precisely for that reason - so we can continue to be a rock for your business.
As the world has recovered from COVID lockdowns and entered a broader economic slowdown, it has become clear that the original plan we built doe he year, to support outsized growth through the pandemic, is no longer the right plan for the company.
I take full responsibility for choosing that original path forward, and for the resulting changes today, which will be so difficult for our team.
It's important to me that we continue to deliver for our creators and patrons with new features and products like native video, new content creation and organization tools, a wold-class mobile experience, and new ways for creators to grow their membership and strengthen their communities. To ensure that we make progress on that roadmap, we are increasing our investment in product, engineering, and design, which means decreasing our spend on other ares of the company.
Ad difficult as this is fo our team, I know this is the right thing to do for Patreon, because it ensures that the company maintains a position of strength, even through an economic downturn, while continuing to deliver for our creators.
If you want to read more about this decision, I just published the internal note I sent to our team this morning, and it's linked in my bio. I'm going to stop posting here for a while to be 100% present internally for our teammates at the company. But I promise to come back in a bit - I will see you all soon.
- Jack"
- Rekksu 4y ago> To ensure that we make progress on that roadmap, we are increasing our investment in product, engineering, and design, which means decreasing our spend on other ares of the company. Underrated dynamic in the startup layoffs this year. Many software companies grew headcount rapidly in areas outside of prod / eng in 2021 and are now scaling back those roles while preserving the talent that was extremely difficult to hire.
- nonethewiser 4y agoTheir career page really bears this out. Lots of open engineering positions.
- COGlory 4y ago>I take full responsibility for choosing that original path forward, and for the resulting changes today, which will be so difficult for our team. What does "take full responsibility" mean? Is he laying himself off instead of the employees? Is he paying the employees he's laying off out of his pocket? Is he resigning so this doesn't happen again? I'm confused how you can just say "I take full responsibility" without actually taking any responsibility. It seems like the laid off employees are taking responsibility.
- donedealomg 4y ago
- honkdaddy 4y agoPerhaps you're unfamiliar with the expression, but usually when English speakers say they "take full responsibility" for a tragedy or unfortunate occurrence, they mean from a moral and blame-based standpoint, it's rarely related to the finances of those affected. The laid off employees are the ones ultimately worse off by the outcome, that goes without saying, what you're missing is that this is different from being morally or strategically responsible for why the situation played out this way. That's the ownership the CEO is trying to take.
- LightG 4y agoBack in the day it meant falling on your sword and letting someone better/new take over.
- xapata 4y agoLuckily, these days we value lessons learned from mistakes.
- earthboundkid 4y agoWhich is why we let the well connected people who make mistakes keep trying the same strategies because they’re sure to work out next time.
- jxramos 4y ago> it has become clear that the original plan we built doe he year, I think something got lost along the way there.