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Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

blog.patreon.com

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Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#401

Post by dehrmann »

Groxx wrote: post #41
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.

> In the US, teammates leaving Patreon will be given three months severance plus an additional two weeks for each half year of tenure beyond the first year. Pretty decent IMO. > You’ll also receive COBRA health care coverage through the end of the year. Odd that that doesn't match the pay period, but oh well.

Health insurance is usually done by the month.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#402

Post by dehrmann »

bArray wrote: post #296

> Last week, we let go of 5 teammates from our security organization, which stemmed from a different set of reasons from the ones guiding today’s decisions. The change last week was part of a longer-term strategy to continue distributing security responsibilities across our entire engineering team, bring new areas of expertise into Patreon internally, and continue partnering with external experts. Unfortunately, the…

Why would you not wait a week and bundle these layoffs together? Unless the security decision came from a mid-level manager who didn't know this was coming.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#403

Post by peter422 »

PopAlongKid wrote: post #230
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…

> what they did here with the equity, especially the option exercise period, is a nice touch. But it's not all that great. Patreon is not publicly traded, so it seems likely that exercising any options will require cash up front, plus it will immediately trigger taxable compensation (income tax plus FICA). And how will the FMV be determined, if there is no public market trading? (ans.: usually just some number voted…

FMV is determined by a 409a valuation, it’s an imprecise thing but it’s done frequently even for private companies and all employees will know the FMV of the shares. Not just a made up number by the board.

They are likely NSOs and with an extended exercise period the former employees do not need to exercise them. They can just hold them and if within 7 years there is a liquidity event, they can exercise & sell. The taxable event would only be upon exercise, so in the case the former employee just holds the options (which is almost certainly what they’ll do), there is no immediate tax impact, nor any sadness about the options expiring. Upon a future E&S they’ll have taxes to pay but also money from the sale to pay the taxes.

Yes the situation could be more complicated if the person were trying to optimize the tax situation but I think that is very unlikely to apply in this situation. Just hold the options and be happy.

And really PopAlongKid, why are you so critical when you really have not even a basic understanding of how this works?

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#405

Post by dehrmann »

csmpltn wrote: post #31

> "... 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…

> thinking what exactly? that people would forever stay locked up at home with nothing else to do with their money?

I wonder if this was Bay Area tech elite bias. Between the Bay Area being late to reopen and generous remote working options, decision makers might have planned for growth that matched where SF in the pandemic, but hadn't realized that most of the country had already moved on.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#406

Post by noobermin »

tjbiddle wrote: post #388
Barrin92 wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how about cutting executive pay first? That is what usually happens in Japanese companies if leadership doesn't live up to expectations. During covid lawmakers cut their own salary by 20%. A little bit of honor in a culture when ordinary people are taking hits goes a long way, rather than lipservice and PR.

Patreon executive salary is $250k. You really think cutting that is going to make a drop in the bucket for 80 employees?

It wouldn't "make a difference" more than it would be signaling taking responsibility. I'm not necessarily for that but perhaps reducing his bonus this year is better way of sharing responsibility, if people really want or need one.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#408

Post by noobermin »

flavmartins wrote: post #164
rmah wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because if you stop at #2... 1) you won't attract any follow-on investment capital; 2) your original investor will be angry that you're sitting on a pile of money that is doing nothing; 3) you will likely grow slower than your other competitors. in some markets, this is death, in other markets, this is fine. Patreon had nearly 500 staff before layoffs. Now has about 400 staff. You may have a hard time understanding w…

+1 That's just not how VCs work. Basically it's you HAVE to always show hockey stick growth. Steady 5-10% per year isn't good enough. It has to grow exponentially. So that's why you keep hiring and keep spreading out the service into a whole bunch of other areas.

Another arrow in my quiver called "VCs aren't a good model for funding companies."

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#409

Post by bogomipz »

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS wrote: post #382
bogomipz wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"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."

By most historical measures of recession, we're already in one. This redefining of what constitutes a recession is a recent phenomena, and has political roots, not financial ones.

>"This redefining of what constitutes a recession is a recent phenomena, and has political roots, not financial ones."

There has been no "redefining" nor is it a recent phenomenon nor does it have political roots. You are wrong on all accounts.

It doesn't have political roots. The National Bureau of Economic Research(NBER) is a private, non-profit, non-partisan research organization with an aim is to promote a greater understanding of how the economy works.

The nonpartisan panel, which was established in 1978 by former Ronald Reagan adviser and NBER president Martin Feldstein, has gone out of its way to keep politics out of the process.

The committee meets in secret and doesn’t announce its gatherings in advance or even in retrospect, unless there’s a press release declaring a formal decision.

And it typically takes the panel about a year to decide on a recession call, though some decision have been made in a few months while others have taken almost twice as long. That’s almost always well after a recession has been widely recognized by Wall Street.

The committee has never reversed a call.

Rather than two negative GDP readings, the NBER is looking for a substantial decline in activity over a sustained period of time. The committee sets dates of the peaks of economic activity and troughs based on six monthly data series, including nonfarm payrolls, personal consumption spending and industrial production.

Re: Patreon Lays off 17% of Staff

#410

Post by encryptluks2 »

sharmi wrote: post #371
COGlory wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I take full responsibility for choosing that original path forward, and for the resulting changes today, which will be so difficult for our team. What does "take full responsibility" mean? Is he laying himself off instead of the employees? Is he paying the employees he's laying off out of his pocket? Is he resigning so this doesn't happen again? I'm confused how you can just say "I take full responsibility" without…

Consider this in contrast to claiming: 1. We are laying off underperformers to strengthen the company (Has happened) 2. We are laying off poorly performing divisions (again, indirectly foisting the responsibility on the employees, because their division is underperforming) 3. We are laying off to cut costs and keep the company profitable (This may be the truth, but it treats employees like they are replaceable cogs i…

So employees will know in the future that the CEO will say it was their fault, but that they are the one that has to deal with the consequences of poor management. Got it. I hope everyone there "quiet quits" after this. Patreon is a cesspool of far-right grifters.
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