Hey all,
I know there is some speculation about what’s happening with theCHIVE and I wanted to provide an update.
As you all know, I have been fully transparent about the external headwinds we have faced from our ad partners which forced us to make changes as to how we run the business. Read last week’s full explanation right here.
The long and short of it is that, over the past 3 years, my brother and I have been personally funding the business to the tune of about $5M. The financial burn recently has become much more dramatic, but we continued to put cash into the business – That’s how much we cared about the website, the charity, our community, and our employees.
I personally have not received a paycheck from theCHIVE in over 4 years. So I would ask that anybody who thinks we’re doing this for the money, it’s quite the opposite. But at some point the business becomes too capital constrained to move forward in its current shape.
To that end, there have been layoffs. When a business model stumbles, that’s how it has to be sometimes when you run out of options. But it still hurts just the same.
Letting talented people go is the absolute hardest thing you can ever do as a business owner. And when those people are also your friends, it’s doubly difficult. But when the only other alternative is shutting down the business, what choice do you have? So I hope you all can see through the emotion and understand I didn’t do this for the money, I did this for survival.
And survive we will.
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