INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
staff were surprised by the announcement
Many were under the impression the startup intended to raise funds this year and were previously told no cuts were planned, they
said.Formerly known as mmhmm, Airtime was launched in 2020 by Libin, whose Evernote, a note-taking startup, was valued at nearly a $1
billion at its height before being sidelined by newer competitors like Notion
(The company later sold to Bending Spoons in 2022 for a decidedly smaller figure.)First launched amid the COVID pandemic, when all office
work had suddenly shifted to video, Airtime today offers two key tools for online meetings
And ideally, employees would work throughout a full season before choosing to quit.Such a structure, as you can imagine, was controversial
But the deal had been honored on both ends since its launch
their managers told them, sources told us
But impacted employees have been given an end date of Friday, June 6
That means their severance covers at least some of what would have normally been offered if they were employed through the period they were
Some stay an extra two weeks to finish up, and others leave sooner
And everyone is receiving six weeks of severance from their last day, so the issue here could be employee confusion or miscommunications
The layoffs themselves were hashed out by leadership over two eight-hour sessions at Nobu in Palo Alto, sources claim
Staff were told on Tuesday, June 3, while their managers were told the night prior.An unknown number of independent contractors were also
User acquisition ad spend also cost Airtime high tens of thousands of dollars per month, and employees report that Libin was often absent
from day-to-day decisions as he focused his attention on his restaurant in Arkansas.Airtime, meanwhile, said the larger cuts had to do with
five-and-a-half-month work seasons per year, with a shared two-week break in between
Near the end of each season, we decide who comes back based on plans for the following season
The company invites some people back, and they decide whether they want to return
than for serious misbehavior
We treat everyone who departs at the end of a season equally, whether or not they were invited back
Product releases, hiring, departures, promotions, and other events are also timed around the seasons to provide people with a predictable
This change is bigger than usual because our focus changed more than usual
$135 million in venture funding across multiple early-stage rounds.Some of those funds were used for M&A, as with the deal to acquire
filter-maker Memix in 2020, then acquire Macro, a maker of filters and reactions for online meetings, in 2021
The latter deal was focused on bringing in founders with product chops, Ankith Harathi and John Keck
(The pair has since left Airtime, according to their LinkedIn profiles.) Airtime parent All Turtles also brought in Alexander Pashintsev,
who previously worked on AI at Evernote, but Airtime itself has not yet made a significant AI push.Sarah Perez can be reached at
A Technology NewsRoom also offers secure tip lines here.Correction: Airtime raised ~$135M, not $235M
The typo was corrected after publication; additional information about severance was also added
