By Kelly Faircloth 4/25 2:52pm

Secondary Markets

Mr. Silbert. (Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls)

SecondMarket CEO Announces Layoffs: ‘I Admit It, I Screwed Up’

SecondMarket was having a pretty good week. On Tuesday came a flurry of articles about the startup’s crowdfunding-flavored partnership with Angellist, and just yesterday, CEO Barry Silbert announced that Tennessee’s First Advantage Bank was using the service to go private while remaining open to investors. He called the move “validation of our model.”

Today, according to a post on SecondMarket’s blog, several employees got the ax as part of “org changes.” Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 4/19 10:45am

I'll Tumbl For You

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Storyboard Speaks: Laid-Off Tumblr Staffers Discuss David Karp’s Decision

Earlier this week, Tumblr CEO David Karp took the stage at PaidContent Live for a panel called “Tumblr and the Future of Media.” It was a poignant title considering that one of the topics discussed was Mr. Karp’s recent, rather brusque blog post announcing the end of Storyboard, a high-profile editorial experiment that hired journalists to write features or film documentary video about Tumblr’s community of “creators.”

For example, this Storyboard piece about a photojournalist documenting a gang truce in El Salvador (on his Tumblr) was published by Mother Jones. One about activists and feminists using nail art (and the growing subculture on Tumblr) was produced in partnership with the Daily Beast. Read More

By Jessica Roy 4:53pm

Shakeups

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff (Photo: Wikipedia)

Following New Details of Buddy Media Acquisition, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Lays off Employees [Updated]

After rumors began swirling on Twitter about layoffs at Salesforce, the cloud-computing company confirmed to Business Insider that it has laid off a fair chunk of its Radian6 employees. Salesforce says that less than 100 employees were impacted, but considering that Radian6 boasts only 320 employees total (according to Crunchbase), that’s still almost a third of the staffers being shown the door.

Radian6, a social media monitoring platform, is an integral part of Salesforce’s big play for a piece of the social marketing space. It acquired Radian6 back in March 2011 in order to build out the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Read More

By Jessica Roy and Nitasha Tiku 10/23/12 2:48pm

Shakeups

(Photo: Insider Monkey)

Zynga Reportedly Lays Off 100+ Employees During the Apple Keynote Because No One Will Even Notice, Right Guys?

Social gaming company Zynga has endured a rough couple of months. After its acquisition of the NYC-based company OMGPOP–producers of the fad-friendly game Draw Something–Zynga has experienced a downward spiral. Earlier this month, it reported an estimated net loss of $90 million to $105 million for its third quarter, sending its already-low stock price into a tailspin. Now, The Next Web reports that the company has laid off 100 staffers from its Austin headquarters, and may even be shuttering its Boston office altogether. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/23/12 2:33pm

Daily Daze

gilt_groupelayoffs

Layoffs at Gilt Groupe Complete: 90 Employees Let Go, Gilt City Closes Offices in Six Markets

Gilt Groupe’s 900-some employees can rest easy, for now. In response to questions from Betabeat, the company confirmed this afternoon that the recent spate of layoffs is over. CEO Kevin Ryan initially estimated that about 50 people would be let go, however, the total number of layoffs across Gilt Groupe’s businesses “ended at 80-90.”

In a statement, the company said, “We don’t foresee additional layoffs at this time.”

Betabeat heard word Friday that part of the restructuring would involved shutting down certain markets for Gilt City, the company’s location-based deals service that offers discounts on luxury events and experiences. In the statement, Gilt Groupe confirmed that it will be closing its offices in six secondary cities “effective immediately,” namely San Diego, Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Dallas, and Atlanta. “We have not been as successful in smaller markets and the resources they require take away from growing our core business,” the company said.

Prior to this move, Gilt City operated in thirteen markets, so this represents a significant reduction. Going forward, Gilt Groupe said it will be “servicing those smaller markets through a centralized sales force.” Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/20/12 1:51pm

Daily Daze

Gilt-Groupe

Layoffs Underway at Gilt Groupe Right Now: ‘General Atmosphere Is Terrifying’

Last Wednesday, Betabeat broke the news of impending layoffs at Gilt Groupe. Later that morning, CEO Kevin Ryan downgraded the estimates we had heard, telling AllThingsD that the company intended to “selectively trim” about 50 people from its staff of 900 over the next couple months.

Tipsters have written into Betabeat that some of those layoffs are currently underway. “People leaving. Sadness. Super uncomfortable work environment,” said one source who wanted to remain anonymous, adding, “General atmosphere is terrifying.” Read More

By Ben Popper 10/21/11 12:03pm

Buy Together Die Together

One kind of pink slip can lead to another

The Full Story Behind BuyWithMe’s Big Layoffs: Debts Come Due For Daily Deal Industry

Betabeat has been covering the layoffs at BuyWithMe since Wednesday, when more than half the staff, at least 100 people,  were laid off without warning or severance. There has been almost no word from the company or its management. As a result, we’ve had to rely mostly on anonymous sources who know bits and pieces. But over the last 24 hours, we’ve been able to put together some big pieces of the puzzle.

The statement released yesterday by CEO James Crowley, that the company was reorganizing to best serve its clients and customers, was disingenuous at best.  Numerous sources Betabeat spoke with confirmed that BuyWithMe is looking to be acquired by a larger player in the daily deal space, and has been for some time now. The layoffs were intended to make it a more attractive purchase.

How did BuyWithMe end up in such dire straights? Betabeat has heard from a source that not only did the company purchase six smaller startups in the last six months, burning through some of its capital, but it also took out a $10 million debt round from its backers that was never disclosed to the press. That goes a long way towards explaining how the company got to where it is today. Read More