I mean there’s Reddit ofc, as well as Twitter in its entirety, Discord is implementing some dumb updates, there are issues with Tumblr as well as everything to do with Meta, and I’m sure there are plenty more (and I haven’t even touched other digital media, for example the Sims). Why is it all happening in the span of about a couple months?
Silicon Valley Bank collapsing is putting pressure on tech companies to actually turn a profit, so they’re turning to slimy tactics just to survive IPO
I don’t think it’s from a specific bank, but it is probably related. From being inside the tech world, the general sense is that the “macroeconomic environment” is different, because of the interest rates, so companies are getting pressure from all of their investors and banks to behave differently. At a lot of places, this has led to layoffs, trying to reduce costs, etc. It also manifests as trying to squeeze out more profit at all costs.
I like the “enshitification” term for the actual process that Reddit and others are going through.
I learned a lot from reading that article; thanks a lot! It’s something I had an intuitive sense about, but the cynical moves these platforms have been making are much less mysterious now
was SVB a big investor in these companies or is there some other reason it’s collapse is having an effect?
I read that SVB was often the only bank that would do business with tech companies and their execs because of their weird balance sheets
That’s an interesting thought, seems potentially plausible. Is this something you’re spitballing yourself, or is this an idea that’s been flying around?
I work in tech startups and it’s well known that equity is much harder to come by and comes with much more strings since the SVB collapse. The VCs are hurting and SVB was a wakeup call for them to be more active about getting value from their ventures.