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Layoffs at Block

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Re: Layoffs at Block

#781

Post by rswail »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #326
daxfohl wrote: post #48

We'll see how much the AI aspect is true by whether they're thinning out teams equally, or just axing whole initiatives. My impression of Block was that it was mostly a one-trick pony (okay, two if you include CashApp) with a bunch of side initiatives that never seemed to pan out, so I'm expecting it to be more of the latter, with this being more of an admission that they're now in "maintenance mode". Either way, I t…

I think this is pretty spot on. It's already been mentioned a ton before how many of these "we're having layoffs to better utilize AI" stories are really just cover for axing lots of unprofitable projects that were birthed during the ZIRP/early pandemic era. I think the additional wrinkle with AI is that it's having an impact, just not really in the way these execs are saying. Before ChatGPT, there was lots of specul…

Prompt companies are already evolving, establishing specific contexts to become business facilitators. That might be a "wrapper" project, but I bet there will be copyright litigation between these companies for "prompt piracy".

There are still (always?) business opportunites to leverage technology, in what we used to think was a virtuous loop of positive feedback.

If corporates are going to build AIs to attempt to sell things to people, there's going to be an opportunity for AIs that work for an individual, a "de-enshittifier" for example.

The "big model providers" right now aren't necessarily the actual ones that will persist. We're in another dotcom-type boom and when the tide goes out, some of them will have been swimming naked.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#783

Post by rswail »

daxfohl wrote: post #100
n2d4 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what sense did CashApp not pan out? $16b revenue. Too early to say whether Afterpay will work out but looking good so far

Updated to two tricks. And you could argue three if you call banking its own trick. Afterpay was an acquisition (and much smaller) so IDK if that counts. Still, all the bitcoin stuff, music, other side ventures, most of the international expansion, attempts to appeal to bigger businesses, the recent "focus local" vision, all hardly made a dent in the respective markets and I wouldn't be surprised if they lost money o…

Afterpay (and the other Buy Now Pay Later competitors like Klarna) are potential financial arrangement facilitators for their customers.

Sure the BNPL model uses effectively invoice factoring with high interest penalties but they do have a financial relationship with both vendors and buyers.

There's a lot to leverage there. It's Paypal with lending attached.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#784

Post by rswail »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #135
n2d4 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what sense did CashApp not pan out? $16b revenue. Too early to say whether Afterpay will work out but looking good so far

CashApp was launched in 2013, long before Zelle and other instant payment rails arrived, which closed wallet providers solved for (Venmo too, owned by...Paypal). There is little growth to be had when these customers can get free deposit accounts with access to Zelle or FedNow to move value for free instantly. It's success to be sure to accumulate the cashflow from the customer base built, but it isn't lasting.

It's a US only problem.

Everywhere else has instant settlement payment rails available for yonks.

And FedNow removes the need for Zelle or CashApp, assuming the banks offer it.

Of course, a regulator working for the consumers might mandate as part of a banking deposit taking license, that the bank must offer FedNow as part of the account at zero transaction cost to the account holder, perhaps with transaction limits.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#785

Post by vimda »

salviati wrote: post #636
tombert wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm convinced that these "AI Layoffs" are these companies trying to save face from the absurd overhiring that they did in 2022 and 2023 because apparently they thought that these no-interest loans/free money would just last forever. No one really "knows" how to grow businesses so the easiest way to spend a lot of money quickly is hiring lots of people, whether or not they are "necessary". Then this free money dries u…

It might actually be that they mean what they say. If you look at the numbers, this doesn’t resemble a company cutting because it’s in trouble. Block is profitable, gross profit has been growing double-digits year over year, and they’re guiding roughly ~18% gross profit growth into 2026 with strong expected expansion in adjusted operating income and EPS. That’s not a balance-sheet emergency. You can argue they overhi…

Profitable, and yet missed their revenue targets in Q3, causing their stock to tumble. That's an emergency. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-06/dorsey-s-...

Re: Layoffs at Block

#786

Post by rswail »

SecretDreams wrote: post #566
morelandjs wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You took the words out of my mouth. In a megacorp, AI multiplies into about 10% of my work and 10x’s it making me roughly 10% more efficient. When I use AI for side projects and don’t have to work with a bunch of stakeholders, dependency owners, and opinionated management, that 10x multiplies into my full effort and the project moves 10x faster.

Yep. I find it helps best when I'm off script/going rogue doing something that I think will help, rather than working with 10 other people all with different opinions and knowledge that just absolutely bogs something down.

What makes you think corporate hierarchies and processes won't infect their use of AI so that you won't be able to "go rogue" and you'll be held up by AI reviews, not humans.

Oh and the opposite when you are one of the 10 "other" people on someone else's project.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#787

Post by rswail »

brightball wrote: post #383
daxfohl wrote: post #48

We'll see how much the AI aspect is true by whether they're thinning out teams equally, or just axing whole initiatives. My impression of Block was that it was mostly a one-trick pony (okay, two if you include CashApp) with a bunch of side initiatives that never seemed to pan out, so I'm expecting it to be more of the latter, with this being more of an admission that they're now in "maintenance mode". Either way, I t…

I hear about CashApp but I don’t know anybody who uses it. What’s the selling point?

It provides a facility that FedNow and Zelle will replace. It's a US specific solution for instant settlement payment rails that other nations have had for a while.

FedNow is the underlying infra, Zelle will end up being the consumer brand wrapper around it.

In Australia, the equivalent is the New Payments Platform (NPP) and the consumer "brand" is PayID. I can associate an email address or a mobile number to a bank account. Anyone can transfer money from their bank account to mine using that ID, without knowing what account or what bank.

There are other things being built on top, like "PayTo" where businesses can set up the equivalent of direct debit agreements, like utilities billing, but the consumer can also control it without having to go through the bank paperwork.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#788

Post by johnny_canuck »

hibikir wrote: post #463
johnny_canuck wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the scary thing going forward is that, over the past 25-30 years or so, tech provided a huge amount of the average wage growth, at least in the US. This is the thing that keeps me up at night. Tech has allowed a very solid middle class lifestyle for a lot of people. I can't think of another good paying job where someone is self-taught, or went to a 12-month certificate program at their local community colle…

Just one correction though: Your definition of middle class has to be super wide to call many tech jobs "solid middle class". It's not as if everyone ends up in the billionaire column, most definitions of middle class end with household income at $165k. Many in tech go over with one job. Once a family has two jobs and one is in tech, basically everyone counts as upper middle or above. With two tech jobs in a househol…

That's true. For context, I reside in Canada where good tech jobs fit the definition of the low end of upper class (250k CAD) where I am not sure the same is true in the USA? Regardless my definition is wrong.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#789

Post by rswail »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #746
d--b wrote: post #712

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Owning it doesn’t make it less of a shit move. Canning people when you do well is just a way to milk the cow that others raised for you. Plus it shows a blatant lack of imagination and foresight. I just hope the remaining employees realize they’re in an ejectable seat and stop working for people like that. It’s only a matter of time the founders sell to Bending Spoons for a final paycheck and everyone else is out.

Yeah but the purpose of a company is not to employ people, it is to make money. The employment is a means to an end. If the money continues to flow without the people, that is better. I can imagine creating a system designed to allocate profits to a broader set of stakeholders, but that's not the system we have.

It's called a co-op.

Re: Layoffs at Block

#790

Post by re-thc »

prescriptivist wrote: post #290
gusmally wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you don't think LLM impacts on productivity were a factor at all?

I would say the vast majority of people in this thread don't believe that this is related to AI at all, other than as a pretext. It's kind of incredible.

As in AI is a belief? This isn't a religion. IF things don't add up they don't.
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