Clubhouse founders are laying off half of their workers to get more startup-y – By Stephen Council (SFGATE) / April 27, 2023
As they laid off wave after wave of tech workers over the past six months, executives have often cited difficult circumstances: They want to cut costs to weather tough financial futures. Layoffs, these apologetic leaders imply in letters and Zoom calls, are a necessary byproduct of our economic moment.
But not at Clubhouse. The executives just want fewer employees.
The audio-focused social media app is cutting half of its workforce, according to a Thursday email to employees from founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, in an effort to “reset the company” and “take it down to a smaller, product-focused team.” Clubhouse’s LinkedIn page lists 207 employees; the startup is based in San Francisco.
Clubhouse, where users host audio-only channels for live conversations, launched and quickly went viral during the pandemic. Drake and other prominent hip-hop artists joined and showed up to a young producer’s showcase. Both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the app in February 2021, adding to the network’s buzz among tech’s elite. Clubhouse has raised tens of millions in funding from eminent venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz; in April 2021, investors valued the firm at $4 billion.
