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Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

blog.patreon.com

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Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#321

Post by alecbz »

ftufek wrote: post #277
mabbo wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct me if I'm wrong, please, but since the equity is all options , doesn't that imply that they're making it easier for people to give them money ? Yes, sure, they have to dilute the company a bit by creating more stocks for the people buying it, but if your company is in enough trouble that you're laying off 1 in 6 employees, it seems financially wise to effectively be doing many small rounds of fundraising this…

Only if you exercise the options, you won't exercise the options if it's not profitable to you.

Don't most options expire a handful of months after leaving the company?

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#322

Post by guntars »

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.

Even if they didn't bend over backwards to make sure everyone lands okay, saying "lose their livelihood" is a bit much, no? These are not peasants losing their land, rather they're highly paid professionals that should have no issue finding work. Shameful plug - we're hiring at Vitally :) Feel free to reach out in the DMs.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#323

Post by bogomipz »

jrockway wrote: post #163
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've been survived a few layoffs that work this way. How many times have you been laid off?!

There are probably a large number of HN readers that have weathered the dotcom bust, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2022 financial crisis. If you were born 1980-ish and you haven't been laid off 3 times, congrats!

>"There are probably a large number of HN readers that have weathered the dotcom bust, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2022 financial crisis."

The "2022 financial crisis"? That's not even a thing. Slowing economic growth and even a recession, should we enter one later this year does not constitute a "financial crisis."

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#324

Post by rafale »

acheron wrote: post #14
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.

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

It's not a real job because nobody will pay you for that because nobody gets value from that. You get paid by people = you provide value in the economic sense (do not always align with the moral or ethical sense, which might be the source of your dislike for the job).

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#325

Post by mepiethree »

alecbz wrote: post #321
ftufek wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you exercise the options, you won't exercise the options if it's not profitable to you.

Don't most options expire a handful of months after leaving the company?

They extended the option exercise period to 5 years

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#327

Post by NoFactualActual »

ajkjk wrote: post #120
NoFactualActual wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He's taking responsibility...and taking corrective action for the long term health and viability of the business. Maybe this is just a language thing, but in my world "taking responsibility" involves some action to personally shoulder the pain of the layoffs beyond saying "my bad". I'd expect it'd at least begin with resignation in this case. Just like you can't just announce "I declare bankruptcy" to shrug off deb…

The post includes tons of details about complicated things Patreon is doing to help out the people affected. Do those count for nothing to you? It feels like you are insisting not on "support" or "generosity" but on "sacrifice".

> The post includes tons of details about complicated things Patreon is doing to help out the people affected

I was under the impression we were addressing "Jack"'s claim to responsibility. I wasn't trying to comment on the actions of the company (which I fully admit is more compassionate in its layoffs than other companies would be).

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#328

Post by [deleted] »

unity1001 wrote: post #64
q7xvh97o2pDhNrh wrote: post #53

This bit from the employee announcement about how they're handling equity vesting [1] is worth highlighting as a pretty classy move, all things considered: > We’re waiving the one-year equity vesting cliff for all departing employees so that everyone has an opportunity to be a shareholder, regardless of your tenure. [...] All departing teammates will qualify for an extended option exercise period of 5 years, and we h…

They say there's 3 months of pay, healthcare, mental care until the end of the year too. And they contracted a placement company to hook people up with new jobs.

[deleted]

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#329

Post by ThinkBeat »

I had no idea that Patron employed so many people.

I keep getting surprised by that. Companies are employing a lot more people than I expected.

Parts of it is down to pure ignorance and not understanding the complexity inherent in the domain, but a part of it also bloat.

Is it a status thing to employe a lot of people? A hope of sustaining financial growth by increasing headcount?

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