Clubhouse, the app that sparked a wave of audio-only features, is laying off more than 50% of its employees. App co-founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth shared the news in a memo to employeeswhere they insist on the need to “reset” the company in a post-covid era.
“As the world has opened up post-Covid, it has become more difficult for many people to find their friends on Clubhouse and to incorporate long conversations into their daily lives,” the founders write. “To find its place in the world, the product must evolve. It requires a period of change.
In their memo, Davison and Seth say they haven’t been able to make things work with the current size of the Clubhouse team, noting that it’s “difficult” to “communicate strategy to cross-functional teams. and “to make quick changes when each surface is owned by a different product team. They believe a smaller, “product-focused” team should help remedy that.
However, Clubhouse has struggled to stay relevant since then, with Twitter Spaces largely taking over the audio-only space. As Clubhouse seeks to evolve to accommodate the changing technology landscape, the the app launched a feature called “Houses” last August, which it describes as a dedicated chat room where users can “make new friends through their existing friend groups in a more intimate setting.”
“We have a clear vision of what Clubhouse 2.0 looks like and believe that with a smaller, leaner team, we can iterate on details faster, build the right product, and honor our teammates who helped us get there. here”, Davison and says Seth.
