According to a tweet from CEO Steven Galanis, Cameo, a platform that allows fans to buy personalized films from celebrities, has laid off 87 employees. The layoffs, which were initially reported by The Information, affected a quarter of the company’s personnel and were necessary to balance expenses and cash reserves. “It’s been a long day at work today.” Galanis remarked on Twitter, “I took the difficult choice to let go of 87 dear members of the Cameo Fameo.” “Look no further if you’re wanting to recruit eager, modest, clever, compassionate, curious, learning machines that love to win – and their résumé includes Cameo.”
Cameo’s spokeswoman only supplied the following statement from Galanis when TechCrunch contacted them for further information: Cameo’s staff grew from just over 100 to over 400 during the pandemic lockdowns to meet fan and talent demand. We swiftly employed a large number of individuals, and market conditions have altered dramatically since then. As a result, we’ve resized the company to better reflect the current circumstances.
The decision to reduce our headcount was a difficult but necessary course correction to ensure that we regained focus and gained the agility to navigate new challenges, the ability to optimize our financial resources, and the time and space to nurture newer business segments like Cameo for Business, Represent, and web3, which we believe will be as big as the core business that put us on the map. We believe Cameo’s intermediate and long-term prospects are bright, and the steps we’ve made to manage our expenses and cash reserves will best position the firm to seize those possibilities.
On the condition of anonymity, a handful of recently laid-off employees spoke to TechCrunch about the layoffs. They claim that teams from all levels of the firm were affected, including the C-suite positions of chief product officer, chief people officer, vice president of marketing, and chief technology officer. Employees were offered severance packages that included eight weeks of basic pay.
“I know that was a really difficult decision for them to make, and it didn’t come easily to them,” a former employee said. “Knowing that part of our executive staff was affected, you could tell it wasn’t done to protect any one set of individuals, but to benefit the organization as a whole.”
In terms of layoff notification, a laid-off employee stated that they learned about the workforce decrease in the press before being told. Employees were ultimately notified through Zoom after receiving a calendar invite. The layoffs came little over a year after the firm, which includes Google Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Kleiner Perkins as investors, achieved unicorn status.
