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Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

blog.patreon.com

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Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#31

Post by csmpltn »

> "... I’m more confident than ever that the world needs a better economic system for creative people, and Patreon will keep building that system for creators over the decades ahead. However, the pandemic introduced volatility to the broader trend, starting with a rapid acceleration during COVID lockdowns. In response, we built an operating plan to support this outsized growth, but as the world began recovering from the pandemic and enduring a broader economic slowdown, that plan is no longer the right path forward for Patreon. I take full responsibility for choosing that original path forward, and for the changes today, which will be very difficult for our team."

It's the same pattern at so many other companies now. Over-hiring during COVID (thinking what exactly? that people would forever stay locked up at home with nothing else to do with their money?), before waking up to the reality that things have gone back to normal and that there was never really a plan whatsoever for those hired. Asses were put in seats though, so there's that.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#32

Post by staticautomatic »

codegeek wrote: post #23

A blog post was done other than Instagram: https://blog.patreon.com/a-note-from-jack "but as the world began recovering from the pandemic and enduring a broader economic slowdown, that plan is no longer the right path forward for Patreon" So basically, they overhired to meet demands during Pandemic and now as less people are using the platform (??), there is no need for the 17% of people. Interesting.

Ideally, that’s how it would be described in the internal meeting version.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#33

Post by bombcar »

lovich wrote: post #18
acheron wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Digging a big hole then filling it back in is "very hard work" too but that doesn't make it a real job.

What, pray tell, qualifies a job as a "real" job?

I'd say something like people are actually willing to pay the average or even the worst job-doer something resembling a living wage.

If the stats from things like Patreon are to believed (and filtering out the "dead weight" of creators who don't post or have given up without closing their account) there's a serious "top 1% of creators make XX% of the revenue" problem.

Which means that for a small fraction, it's a job, for the vast majority it's a money-losing hobby.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#34

Post by eganist »

behnamoh wrote: post #20
bo0tzz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your quoting suggests that you think what people on onlyfans and patreon do aren't "real jobs", but in fact to succeed in those spaces needs very hard work.

> but in fact to succeed in those spaces needs very hard work. But that doesn't make it a job. You could do hard work in moving a mountain but that's not a job. Needless to say, earning money off of your looks (something you didn't work hard to gain in the first place) doesn't qualify as hard-working job.

> But that doesn't make it a job. You could do hard work in moving a mountain but that's not a job.

Job (n):

1. a paid position of regular employment.

2. a task or piece of work, especially one that is paid.

---

It seems to fit #2 perfectly (exhibiting to an audience), and #1 can be met based on e.g corporate structure (subscription pay into an LLC that normalizes the salary etc)

I'd argue that it's in fact potentially "skilled labor" in that it's not obvious what it takes to produce content that brings regular subscribers. Tons of adult content creators burn out and pivot because they can't get traction.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#37

Post by dilyevsky »

darth_avocado wrote: post #15

What does “taking full responsibility” even mean? Like people lose their livelihood and you can get away with “I take full responsibility”. Taking full responsibility mean taking a pay cut or stepping down or basically taking consequences for yourself first before others have to.

Corpspeak for “your call is very important to us, all our operators are currently busy…”

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#38

Post by skyyler »

behnamoh wrote: post #20
bo0tzz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your quoting suggests that you think what people on onlyfans and patreon do aren't "real jobs", but in fact to succeed in those spaces needs very hard work.

> but in fact to succeed in those spaces needs very hard work. But that doesn't make it a job. You could do hard work in moving a mountain but that's not a job. Needless to say, earning money off of your looks (something you didn't work hard to gain in the first place) doesn't qualify as hard-working job.

>Needless to say, earning money off of your looks (something you didn't work hard to gain in the first place) doesn't qualify as hard-working job.

Even if you're very conventionally attractive, you need to put in a lot of networking and marketing before you can make money off of "your looks". Even then, you don't just sit back and let your looks do everything.

Porn stars generally spend a couple hours DAILY in the gym. Then there's all of the events you have to do to remain relevant in social circles. Then there's actual shooting. But before that there's hair and makeup. Then there's outfits. Selecting garments that match your personal style and also are sexy enough to excite your fans isn't easy and it usually isn't cheap.

Going through all of that to get paid by the fans is absolutely a job. If the fans didn't pay, it wouldn't be a job.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#39

Post by ranma4703 »

behnamoh wrote: post #20
bo0tzz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your quoting suggests that you think what people on onlyfans and patreon do aren't "real jobs", but in fact to succeed in those spaces needs very hard work.

> but in fact to succeed in those spaces needs very hard work. But that doesn't make it a job. You could do hard work in moving a mountain but that's not a job. Needless to say, earning money off of your looks (something you didn't work hard to gain in the first place) doesn't qualify as hard-working job.

It takes a LOT of work to "earn a living off your looks"

Ignoring the time spent setting up shoots, editing, engagement, etc, and focusing just on "looks", you have to spend a lot of time on working out, make up, shaving, putting together outfits, etc.

If you think that looking good is something that doesn't take any hard work, it's because you've never tried to put in that work yourself.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#40

Post by freeone3000 »

bombcar wrote: post #33
lovich wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What, pray tell, qualifies a job as a "real" job?

I'd say something like people are actually willing to pay the average or even the worst job-doer something resembling a living wage. If the stats from things like Patreon are to believed (and filtering out the "dead weight" of creators who don't post or have given up without closing their account) there's a serious "top 1% of creators make XX% of the revenue" problem. Which means that for a small fraction, it's a job…

By that definition, real jobs are doctor, dentist, and software developer. We don't pay the worst in most jobs anything more than the legal minimum.
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