Reddit's scale is still possible with a smaller size team and a smaller budget. Instagram famously had 13 employees when they had as many active users as Reddit

Reddit's scale is still possible with a smaller size team and a smaller budget. Instagram famously had 13 employees when they had as many active users as Reddit does, so running the site is not most of the core issue. Reddit did not lose money because of the core platform, ie old.reddit.com. Reddit lost money wasting on a number of initiatives like 1.) the mobile app 2.) shitty ad platform. Instagram advertises to me about the next hot restaurant near me, or some small business making a cool Trinket. Google does not get my eyeballs because of adblockers. Reddit serves me ads telling me how IBM is the hottest technology consulting shit in town, when I'm just looking for army compositions for Age of Empires 2.