6 ms·

Amplitude Lays Off 13% of Team (99 people)

39 points by joegahona 4y ago

muro 4y ago
I first thought it was about Amplitude Studios and thought about how Humanity didn't click for me. Then was surprised why they would have so many employees. Different Amplitude, looks like.
bsaul 4y ago
i hope they're not doing those 10% cut just to look like everyone else. I was about to bet on their product for my analytics and now i'm a bit more hesitant.
- neural_thing 4y ago
  I like Amplitude's product A LOT. But it has always seemed to me that they had too many customer relations (upsell) people whose job was to waste my time.
- Feeble 4y ago
  Amplitude is a great product. We tested alot of similar products and Amplitude was by far the best. The only negative I have found is their pricing which is free up to quite a generous level to be honest but then it suddenly becomes really expensive.
  - esel2k 4y ago
    I agree, it quickly becomes exorbitant. I used to manage a product used to record data points in fields - millions of datapoints a day and this cost us just too much money in my opinion compared to what we really learned from Amplitude. Advice: Talk to your users:)
  - 3np 4y ago
    Is this a theme of analytics? Monthly DataDog bills for your second year be like $50 $50 $50 $70 $100 $150 $2000 $500 $400 $500 $600 $11000
  - aikinai 4y ago
    Just wanted to second all of this. It’s an awesome product, but very expensive for a small company.
  - Redsquare 4y ago
    I wish they would have event volume pricing option rather than just MTU, same with Mix+Segment. Very inflexible if the site you run has lots of infrequent users.
    - austinpray 4y ago
      Mixpanel does event volume pricing now
- autoexec 4y ago
  > i hope they're not doing those 10% cut just to look like everyone else. of course it isn't just to look like everyone else, it's also going to get them a some free press! People here are already talking about how great Amplitude is
DogLover_ 4y ago
I always thought one of the drawbacks of working in america compared to europe was that there was less of a safety net. However, with all these news about layoffs I see that most tech companies provide a severance package of 16 weeks which is better than most companies in europe. Is something changing or have I been wrong in my assumptions?
- WinLychee 4y ago
  Knowledge work in the US (especially tech) is on another level entirely. You would not be treated this way in retail, service jobs, or at most employers AFAIK (this also depends heavily on the state). As far as I know most employment contracts are at will, and they can fire you and give absolutely nothing. However, for some reason all these tech companies are being very generous with layoffs. Possibly they don't want to burn any bridges for the future? According to https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/007.htm https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/007.htm > There is no requirement in the FLSA for severance pay. Severance pay is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative).
  - derivagral 4y ago
    Depends on the phrasing. I've had to sign a (legal contract) "release of claims" to get what's commonly called a "severance package", which legally for unemployment are separate things. An actual "severance" doesn't require a signature, or so the office told me. IANAL and every state will be different.
  - s1gsegv 4y ago
    As I understand it, there's the WARN act both federally and at some state levels (namely California where a lot of this is taking place). They require advance notice of layoffs as a worker protection. However, companies don't want to give advance notice so instead they immediately "lay you off" by removing access to everything, then give you "notice" that you'll be off payroll in some weeks/months as required by the act. I'm not a lawyer, it seems like a pretty grey interpretation of the law, but at least this is better than no severance.
zod50 4y ago
> For those working in North America, today (April 5) will be their last day. In EMEA and APJ, it will be tomorrow (April 6). Blog posted on Apr 5, and same day is the last day for many. Damn that's so fast, no time to even think and process.
- suddenclarity 4y ago
  It's common to let people go on the same day. You don't want people to cause issues through malicious intent, by not caring or just being Debbie Downer. Some people might argue differently but when you know that nothing you do will matter in a few weeks, then your output will suffer.
hcmacro 4y ago
Hopefully the laid off employees fared better than the retail bagholders.

39 points by joegahona 4y ago

muro 4y ago

I first thought it was about Amplitude Studios and thought about how Humanity didn't click for me. Then was surprised why they would have so many employees. Different Amplitude, looks like.

bsaul 4y ago

i hope they're not doing those 10% cut just to look like everyone else. I was about to bet on their product for my analytics and now i'm a bit more hesitant.

neural_thing 4y ago
I like Amplitude's product A LOT. But it has always seemed to me that they had too many customer relations (upsell) people whose job was to waste my time.
Feeble 4y ago
Amplitude is a great product. We tested alot of similar products and Amplitude was by far the best. The only negative I have found is their pricing which is free up to quite a generous level to be honest but then it suddenly becomes really expensive.
- esel2k 4y ago
  I agree, it quickly becomes exorbitant. I used to manage a product used to record data points in fields - millions of datapoints a day and this cost us just too much money in my opinion compared to what we really learned from Amplitude. Advice: Talk to your users:)
- 3np 4y ago
  Is this a theme of analytics? Monthly DataDog bills for your second year be like $50 $50 $50 $70 $100 $150 $2000 $500 $400 $500 $600 $11000
- aikinai 4y ago
  Just wanted to second all of this. It’s an awesome product, but very expensive for a small company.
- Redsquare 4y ago
  I wish they would have event volume pricing option rather than just MTU, same with Mix+Segment. Very inflexible if the site you run has lots of infrequent users.
  - austinpray 4y ago
    Mixpanel does event volume pricing now
autoexec 4y ago
> i hope they're not doing those 10% cut just to look like everyone else. of course it isn't just to look like everyone else, it's also going to get them a some free press! People here are already talking about how great Amplitude is

DogLover_ 4y ago

I always thought one of the drawbacks of working in america compared to europe was that there was less of a safety net. However, with all these news about layoffs I see that most tech companies provide a severance package of 16 weeks which is better than most companies in europe. Is something changing or have I been wrong in my assumptions?

WinLychee 4y ago
Knowledge work in the US (especially tech) is on another level entirely. You would not be treated this way in retail, service jobs, or at most employers AFAIK (this also depends heavily on the state). As far as I know most employment contracts are at will, and they can fire you and give absolutely nothing. However, for some reason all these tech companies are being very generous with layoffs. Possibly they don't want to burn any bridges for the future? According to https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/007.htm https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/007.htm > There is no requirement in the FLSA for severance pay. Severance pay is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative).
- derivagral 4y ago
  Depends on the phrasing. I've had to sign a (legal contract) "release of claims" to get what's commonly called a "severance package", which legally for unemployment are separate things. An actual "severance" doesn't require a signature, or so the office told me. IANAL and every state will be different.
- s1gsegv 4y ago
  As I understand it, there's the WARN act both federally and at some state levels (namely California where a lot of this is taking place). They require advance notice of layoffs as a worker protection. However, companies don't want to give advance notice so instead they immediately "lay you off" by removing access to everything, then give you "notice" that you'll be off payroll in some weeks/months as required by the act. I'm not a lawyer, it seems like a pretty grey interpretation of the law, but at least this is better than no severance.

zod50 4y ago

> For those working in North America, today (April 5) will be their last day. In EMEA and APJ, it will be tomorrow (April 6). Blog posted on Apr 5, and same day is the last day for many. Damn that's so fast, no time to even think and process.

suddenclarity 4y ago
It's common to let people go on the same day. You don't want people to cause issues through malicious intent, by not caring or just being Debbie Downer. Some people might argue differently but when you know that nothing you do will matter in a few weeks, then your output will suffer.

hcmacro 4y ago

Hopefully the laid off employees fared better than the retail bagholders.