5 ms·

Twitch lays off 500 staff

thih9 3y ago
Recent discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38933315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38933315 (yesterday, 405 points)
- nadermx 3y ago
  That previous discussion is actually pretty good
iLoveOncall 3y ago
And PrimeVideo several hundreds too.
ToucanLoucan 3y ago
As I've said in several of these threads... over the coming years we're going to find out how much of the platform-boom Internet was built on the back of lighting fields of dump-trucks full of money on fire while vaguely waving your hands towards the future and something about monetizing user data because unheard-of low interest rates made money basically free, and that party has ended. Honestly, I'm excited. I want to see what else we can build besides yet another bloody free service anyone can sign up for that needs to devour the world and enshittify itself with invasive advertising before it too goes bust.
- edgyquant 3y ago
  I think in the long run it will be really good. These companies have been killing competition with those truck fulls of cash. All of these engineers being hungry will lead to a ton of innovation over time
- thunderbird120 3y ago
  So many companies from the whole 2010's tech boom just produce so little actual value per user that their entire business model just collapses once raising additional capital becomes even slightly difficult. These massive services are just fundamentally broken from a business perspective and have no path to profitability regardless of how annoying and obtrusive they're willing to become.
- trgn 3y ago
  I understand, directionally I'd agree, but practically speaking, would you rather be a computer programmer in an era when VCs are dumping money in software, or in one when this is not case?
  - ToucanLoucan 3y ago
    I've never worked for a VC firm and wouldn't unless I had no other options. I don't like the business model, I don't like the pressure to grow ad-infinitum, I don't like the prospect of investors who don't understand the business they are in dictating the product. I strictly work for privately owned companies. They're not always perfect but the sensible-to-utter-nonsense ratio from leadership is FAR, FAR better.
    - trgn 3y ago
      > I've never worked for a VC firm I don't think it actually matters (?) All practitioners, in VC funded company or not, benefit from frothy demand for programmers, even if a lot of that demand is driven by "dumb" money. I mean, compare to the years after .com crash, or the current lean years. I don't know, I think we should prefer the fat years?
  - cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
    No. That is pretty typical HN bias. I’ve too never worked anywhere VC-funded. Any increase in remuneration I’ve received as a result of a tech bubble at the very least has to be weighed up against the indirect downsides. The dominant technologies of the last 10+ years have been influenced by a) nothing needing to be built to last, and b) lots of companies having insanely high head counts resulting in over-engineered solutions. Both of these things have made my job leas enjoyable and I’d at the very least consider taking a pay cut to be in a world where things went differently. I can think of plenty of other downsides.
    - trgn 3y ago
      > has to be weighed up against the indirect downsides Renumeration is directly measurable (and I think directly attribute to sustained investment in the industry, notably VCs), while the indirect downsides are just harder to pinpoint how and why they arise. e.g. low quality code bases ... I've seen that in all types of organizations, I've also seen very high quality code in VC-funded startups.
EdSharkey 3y ago
The purple snake should have never cancelled the two-time, back-to-back, 1993, 1994, Blockbuster Videogame Champion.
- rangledangle 3y ago
  yayayayayaya
- kristopherkane 3y ago
  LOL. I'm sad to say I get this reference.
- Yhippa 3y ago
  We still don't know why.
  - EdSharkey 3y ago
    To juice their ESG rating to maintain their bond rating, I imagine. Same reason Gilette and Nike and every other megabrand suicided over the past 5 years. All to keep getting the speculation fiat buckerinos.
63 3y ago
35% holy shit. Regardless of whether twitch really needed all those people, it can't feel great to see 1/3 of your coworkers gone, or 1/2 compared to a year ago
Yhippa 3y ago
Should streamers be concerned? Or is this savings going to go to them?
kernal 3y ago
I’m surprised people actually believed Twitch was profitable.
- giancarlostoro 3y ago
  I mean... did you not see how much some of the streamers make in pay outs from the leak a few years back? Some political comentators were pulling at least a million if I remember correctly. There's definitely some money being thrown around. Not sure if its all being thrown around incorrectly, but people definitely pay to watch streamers. Just look up how much the highest paid streamers on Twitch make per month, and you'll see there's some value to it.
  - tristan_hjkl 3y ago
    How much of that money is "prime" subs though? If streamers are making a million a month off of the attitude of "my other subscription lets me hand them 5 bucks for free, why not?" Then it's not really making money at the rate streamer income would suggest.

Recent discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38933315 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38933315 (yesterday, 405 points)

nadermx 3y ago
That previous discussion is actually pretty good

iLoveOncall 3y ago

And PrimeVideo several hundreds too.

ToucanLoucan 3y ago

As I've said in several of these threads... over the coming years we're going to find out how much of the platform-boom Internet was built on the back of lighting fields of dump-trucks full of money on fire while vaguely waving your hands towards the future and something about monetizing user data because unheard-of low interest rates made money basically free, and that party has ended. Honestly, I'm excited. I want to see what else we can build besides yet another bloody free service anyone can sign up for that needs to devour the world and enshittify itself with invasive advertising before it too goes bust.

edgyquant 3y ago
I think in the long run it will be really good. These companies have been killing competition with those truck fulls of cash. All of these engineers being hungry will lead to a ton of innovation over time
thunderbird120 3y ago
So many companies from the whole 2010's tech boom just produce so little actual value per user that their entire business model just collapses once raising additional capital becomes even slightly difficult. These massive services are just fundamentally broken from a business perspective and have no path to profitability regardless of how annoying and obtrusive they're willing to become.
trgn 3y ago
I understand, directionally I'd agree, but practically speaking, would you rather be a computer programmer in an era when VCs are dumping money in software, or in one when this is not case?
- ToucanLoucan 3y ago
  I've never worked for a VC firm and wouldn't unless I had no other options. I don't like the business model, I don't like the pressure to grow ad-infinitum, I don't like the prospect of investors who don't understand the business they are in dictating the product. I strictly work for privately owned companies. They're not always perfect but the sensible-to-utter-nonsense ratio from leadership is FAR, FAR better.
  - trgn 3y ago
    > I've never worked for a VC firm I don't think it actually matters (?) All practitioners, in VC funded company or not, benefit from frothy demand for programmers, even if a lot of that demand is driven by "dumb" money. I mean, compare to the years after .com crash, or the current lean years. I don't know, I think we should prefer the fat years?
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
  No. That is pretty typical HN bias. I’ve too never worked anywhere VC-funded. Any increase in remuneration I’ve received as a result of a tech bubble at the very least has to be weighed up against the indirect downsides. The dominant technologies of the last 10+ years have been influenced by a) nothing needing to be built to last, and b) lots of companies having insanely high head counts resulting in over-engineered solutions. Both of these things have made my job leas enjoyable and I’d at the very least consider taking a pay cut to be in a world where things went differently. I can think of plenty of other downsides.
  - trgn 3y ago
    > has to be weighed up against the indirect downsides Renumeration is directly measurable (and I think directly attribute to sustained investment in the industry, notably VCs), while the indirect downsides are just harder to pinpoint how and why they arise. e.g. low quality code bases ... I've seen that in all types of organizations, I've also seen very high quality code in VC-funded startups.

EdSharkey 3y ago

The purple snake should have never cancelled the two-time, back-to-back, 1993, 1994, Blockbuster Videogame Champion.

rangledangle 3y ago
yayayayayaya
kristopherkane 3y ago
LOL. I'm sad to say I get this reference.
Yhippa 3y ago
We still don't know why.
- EdSharkey 3y ago
  To juice their ESG rating to maintain their bond rating, I imagine. Same reason Gilette and Nike and every other megabrand suicided over the past 5 years. All to keep getting the speculation fiat buckerinos.

63 3y ago

35% holy shit. Regardless of whether twitch really needed all those people, it can't feel great to see 1/3 of your coworkers gone, or 1/2 compared to a year ago

Yhippa 3y ago

Should streamers be concerned? Or is this savings going to go to them?

kernal 3y ago

I’m surprised people actually believed Twitch was profitable.

giancarlostoro 3y ago
I mean... did you not see how much some of the streamers make in pay outs from the leak a few years back? Some political comentators were pulling at least a million if I remember correctly. There's definitely some money being thrown around. Not sure if its all being thrown around incorrectly, but people definitely pay to watch streamers. Just look up how much the highest paid streamers on Twitch make per month, and you'll see there's some value to it.
- tristan_hjkl 3y ago
  How much of that money is "prime" subs though? If streamers are making a million a month off of the attitude of "my other subscription lets me hand them 5 bucks for free, why not?" Then it's not really making money at the rate streamer income would suggest.