Spot Runner Lays Off 50 in Realignment
Spot Runner confirmed late Tuesday it had made layoffs earlier in the day, the news of which was first reported by Valleywag but not in entirely correct fashion, according to a company spokesperson. The advertising platform let go of about 50 people, or 10 percent of its staff, said VP of corporate communications Rosabel Tao.
Tao said the company was hiring 40-50 people for newly created positions, resulting in a “net-even swap” of employees. While the layoffs were “in various departments,” she said, they were mostly related to an ongoing strategic shift to include advertising for national businesses. This is the department run by high-profile hire Joanne Bradford, who joined in March after leaving MSN.
Spot Runner, which has raised total funding of $111 million, has become a behemoth in its three short years — but perhaps its growth came too fast to be in control. Spot Runner had originally started with a focus on helping local businesses advertise on TV. While it still does that, the company also now provides national marketing and online advertisements.
Tao insisted the layoffs were part of a “natural course correct” as Spot Runner grows. “The timing of this given the economy, people can jump to conclusions,” she said. “But this is why we’re glad we raised so much money.”
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Rosabel needs a raise.
She is better than Bush at explaining how good things are.
Rosabel Tao for president!
davidson for hire on August 12th, 2008 at 11:35 pm - Permalink
i don’t get it still. the ppl that got the axe include a sr. sys admin, sdet, and release engr. furthermore, the dir of bi/data and dir of architect departed on their own volition.
these are some critical posts for a tech company like spot runner. it doesn’t add up imho…
kinda sounds like spin on August 13th, 2008 at 12:11 am - Permalink
111M in funding doing SMB advertising…
Goodluck to investors on getting a 2x return on this one.
Yikes on August 13th, 2008 at 6:45 am - Permalink
[...] Runner has laid off 50 employees but plans to hire the same number of new positions to ramp up its focus on national advertising. [...]
Spot Runner making ‘course correction’ - Lost Remote TV Blog on August 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am - Permalink
[...] Runner, which lets advertisers place to local TV stations via an online service, has laid off 50 of its employees as it realigns its [...]
Spot Runner lays off 50 as it realigns its strategy » VentureBeat on August 13th, 2008 at 9:40 am - Permalink
One of the worst run start-ups I’ve seen. They have something like 200+ employees and no real vision. Thank God I didn’t accept the job offer from them. 2x return would be a tremendous success story their investors.
Mike M. on August 13th, 2008 at 10:12 am - Permalink
Nothing SR does is making much sense – ie hiring an online expert to run a TV advertising firm (who knows about as much about the ups and downs of a TV based ad agency as Nick does), charging 15% plus commissions which the way of the dinosaur a decade ago, while pushing for DR accounts which they have little expertise, experience or systems for – not to mention that DR means buy it on the cheap – not pay a premium commission, and oh yeah-there’s no account service to justify those fees either, then there’s hiring hundreds of sales people with no TV bg, and among the people who are now gone are some with the strongest national TV experience in the entire company. Their local business model didn’t pan out, they are running through vc at a pace that will put them out of business within 2 years and so now they’ve decided what the world needs is a second rate traditional ad agency that hires junior people and charges 15% for the privilege of taking your money. Will agree, though, Rosabel is a genius in spin.
John Lazarus on August 14th, 2008 at 12:35 pm - Permalink
WTF? 10% layoff? BS I am looking through my company directory now, looks closer to 20% layoffs. What a way to minimize!
Nick Grouf on August 15th, 2008 at 11:43 am - Permalink
I agree with Mike M. above except that Spot Runner says on its own web site that it charges more than the traditional agency 15%. Spotrunner may typically charge additional commissions and fees above a regular agency commission – like in some cases 100% more. So your so-called $500 ad can wind up costing $10,000! Looks like P.T. Barnum was right. The closest Grouf ever got to cheap TV spots is when he used the real CheapTVSpots online agency’s trade name for his own Businessweek VNR. A cheap shot that may have already cost him and his investors 200 million. Template based screw-it-up-yourself recycled ads are a fad anyway. R.I.P. Spot Runner.
Spotrunner Deathwatch on August 21st, 2008 at 9:12 pm - Permalink
[...] job cuts would be on top of an earlier round of layoffs last August, which resulted in 50 people losing their employment. Another 50 or so subsequently left on their own account. According to one [...]
A Spot Of Trouble At Spot Runner on October 31st, 2008 at 12:49 pm - Permalink
[...] job cuts would be on top of an earlier round of layoffs last August, which resulted in 50 people losing their employment. Another 50 or so subsequently left on their own account. According to one [...]
A Spot Of Trouble At Spot Runner - MyBlogChannel on October 31st, 2008 at 1:57 pm - Permalink
[...] 今回の首切りは、8月に始まったレイオフの続きということになる。8月には50人が職を失った。これに続いて50人程度が自ら社を去っていった。退社した元従業員によると、Spot Runnnerの少なくとも技術者の中にはモラルの低下と幻滅感が広がっているらしい。技術系企業にとってみれば、これは憂慮すべき事態だ。ちなみにこの従業員によると、Spot Runnerは一般の広告代理店よりも技術力に依存する部分が多いという。 [...]
TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Spot Runnerにレイオフに伴うトラブルの兆し on October 31st, 2008 at 2:58 pm - Permalink
[...] job cuts would be on top of an earlier round of layoffs last August, which resulted in 50 people losing their employment. Another 50 or so subsequently left on their own account. According to one [...]
» Blog Archive » A Spot Of Trouble At Spot Runner on November 2nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm - Permalink
[...] Runner Lays Off 115 Spot Runner called us this morning to say it is laying off 115 employees, or about 30 percent of its workforce. [...]
Spot Runner Lays Off 115 « NewTeeVee on November 3rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm - Permalink
[...] (twice), Heavy, PermissionTV, ManiaTV, Break, Revision3, Smashface, 60Frames, Vuze, Spot Runner (twice), Veoh (twice), BitTorrent (twice), Current Media, Qik, Strands, Brightcove and DivX. (Not to [...]
The Outlook for Video Startups in 2009 « NewTeeVee on January 7th, 2009 at 10:01 pm - Permalink
[...] is on top of the 115 employees who lost their jobs last November and the 50 more last August. Throw in natural attrition, and the company, which at one point numbered more than 500 [...]
Spot Runner Is Running On Fumes: At Least Another 60 To Lose Their Jobs on March 14th, 2009 at 1:47 pm - Permalink
[...] 同社はすでに、昨年8月に50名、さらに11月には115名をレイオフしている。これらに加えて、レイオフではない通常の退職もあり、かつては500名以上いた同社の社員は120名足らずになりそうだ。 [...]
火だるまで走るSpot Runner: 三度目のレイオフでさらに60名を解雇 on March 14th, 2009 at 10:05 pm - Permalink
[...] is on top of the 115 employees who lost their jobs last November and the 50 more last August. Throw in natural attrition, and the company, which at one point numbered more than 500 [...]
Spot Runner Is Running On Fumes: Another 60 To Lose Their Jobs | The Scripts Zone on March 15th, 2009 at 4:07 am - Permalink
[...] is on top of the 115 employees who lost their jobs last November and the 50 more last August. Throw in natural attrition, and the company, which at one point numbered more than 500 [...]
Spot Runner Is Running On Fumes: Another 60 To Lose Their Jobs on March 15th, 2009 at 8:03 am - Permalink
[...] 同社はすでに、昨年8月に50名、さらに11月には115名をレイオフしている。これらに加えて、レイオフではない通常の退職もあり、かつては500名以上いた同社の社員は120名足らずになりそうだ。 [...]
火だるまで走るSpot Runner: 三度目のレイオフでさらに60名を解雇 | KGRAND ONLINE NEWS on March 15th, 2009 at 4:04 pm - Permalink
[...] is on crowning of the 115 employees who forfeited their jobs terminal Nov and the 50 more terminal August. Throw in uncolored attrition, and the company, which at digit saucer numbered more [...]
Spot Runner Is Running On Fumes: Another 60 To Lose Their Jobs | Reviews Manual on March 15th, 2009 at 7:23 pm - Permalink
[...] is on top of the 115 employees who lost their jobs last November and the 50 more last August. Throw in natural attrition, and the company, which at one point numbered more than 500 [...]
tbsnetworks - Spot Runner Is Running On Fumes: Another 60 To Lose Their Jobs on March 16th, 2009 at 6:10 am - Permalink
[...] is on top of the 115 employees who lost their jobs last November and the 50 more last August. Throw in natural attrition, and the company, which at one point numbered more than 500 [...]
Scooopy.net » Blog Archive » Spot Runner Is Running On Fumes: Another 60 To Lose Their Jobs on March 16th, 2009 at 8:32 pm - Permalink