Path cuts 20 percent of staff, says layoffs will 'support continued innovation'

Apparently Path's subscription model hasn't been successful in turning things around for the social network. Valleywag is reporting that the company today laid off 13 employees, representing 20 percent of its entire staff. Addressing the layoffs, a spokesperson told Valleywag, "We're working to realign the company to support continued innovation and Path 4.0." A Path spokesperson has since told The Verge that no engineers were included in the staff reduction and that the firings were sprinkled across the company. Valleywag's report goes on to say that Path is still in search of a lead investor for another round of funding for the social app. The company insists its fortunes are good, pointing to its community of 20 million users as evidence of sustained growth. But the company has struggled to find a reliable path to profitability.

Last month, Path introduced subscriptions for its mobile applications, charging users $1.99 for a month on Android, $4.99 for three months on iOS, and $14.99 for a year covering both platforms. That premium membership promised benefits like new stickers and photo filters; the company simultaneously tightened up its privacy and sharing settings. But Path's reputation has also been marred by spam and robocall controversies. As we wrote in September, Path's goal with its recent update was to get its users sharing more while spending more. Today's layoffs would imply it's having some difficulty executing on that strategy.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/15/4842360/path-cuts-20-percent-of-staff
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