The creator subscription firm Patreon is the newest firm to be affected by a lengthy line of tech layoffs.
CEO Jack Conte wrote in a letter to workers — cross-posted to Patreon’s weblog — that 17% of the workers will likely be laid off. This impacts the Go-to-Market, Operations, Finance and Folks groups. Patreon may even shut its Berlin workplace, which labored on gross sales and advertising and marketing. The Dublin workplace will shut as nicely, since Patreon desires to consolidate its engineering efforts within the U.S. — the 9 engineers working in Dublin will likely be supplied relocation packages. All affected workers will likely be supplied at the very least three months of severance pay, plus COBRA well being advantages for U.S. workers for the remainder of the yr.
Simply final week, Patreon additionally let go of 5 members of its safety group. Conte wrote that these layoffs “stemmed from a special set of causes” from the layoffs at the moment.
“The change final week was a part of a longer-term technique to proceed distributing safety tasks throughout our total engineering group, convey new areas of experience into Patreon internally, and proceed partnering with exterior specialists,” Conte wrote. “Sadly, the change generated concern that we had been decreasing our safety funding, however I needed to make it clear, particularly in gentle of at the moment’s modifications, that we’re in reality growing our funding in safety.”
Final yr, Patreon raised a $155 million spherical of enterprise funding, bringing the corporate’s valuation to $4 billion. When TechCrunch spoke to Patreon chief product officer Julian Gutman in December, he mentioned that the corporate deliberate to double in measurement by the tip of 2022 — however evidently, these plans have shifted within the months since.
Patreon makes its cash from taking a minimize of the subscriptions that followers pay creators every month, so layoffs at Patreon may very well be a priority for creators who depend on the platform for sustainable month-to-month revenue.
Along with his letter to workers, Conte additionally wrote on his private Instagram concerning the layoffs.
“I keep in mind how nerve-racking it was once I was a full time creator — earlier than beginning Patreon — to observe corporations that I relied on undergo moments like this,” Conte wrote. He mentioned that the explanation Patreon is making these job cuts is to guarantee that Patreon continues to be a dependable monetization instrument for creators.
It may very well be a foul signal, although, that creator financial system corporations should not proof against this ongoing tidal wave of tech business layoffs. Layoffs have additionally affected Lightricks, StreamElements and Jellysmack. Plus, social corporations like Snap and ByteDance, TikTok’s mother or father firm, have additionally performed job cuts this summer season.
When TechCrunch spoke to Conte in August, we requested the creator-turned-CEO about what he thinks the macroeconomic downturn means for creators. He mentioned it was too early to inform, however he wasn’t nervous about creators in the long term.
“If now we have an prolonged recession right here, I feel we’ll must see what the influence of softening shopper spend is on creators,” Conte informed TechCrunch. “However over the long term, I feel the influence is minimal. Take a look at what individuals worth most. […] It’s within the work and expression of artistic individuals.”
