Rohan Seth: Last News

Clubhouse, the live audio app that once drew big buzz and interest in a multi-billion-dollar takeover, is “resetting” and letting go of 50% of its staff of a few dozen workers.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Clubhouse is making a major reboot: The once-buzzy audio-livestreaming social app is laying off more than half its staff in what founders say is a necessary strategy pivot. Clubhouse founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth announced the layoffs in a memo to employees Thursday. “We arrived at this conclusion reluctantly, as we have years of runway remaining and do not feel immediate pressure to reduce costs,” they said. “But we believe that a smaller team will give us focus and speed, and help us launch the next evolution of the product.” San Francisco-based Clubhouse had close to 100 employees, Davison said at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference last October.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorClubhouse is taking down the velvet rope in front of its live audio-chat app.The startup, which kicked off a social-audio gold rush among bigger companies like Facebook, Spotify and Twitter, on Wednesday announced that Clubhouse is now open to everyone — removing its waitlist system that required an existing user to invite you to the app.The new Clubhouse app is out today on iOS and Android, and the company says it will be releasing major new updates every one to two weeks.“[W]e’ve always wanted Clubhouse to be open. Everyone in the world should have access to meaningful conversations,” founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth wrote in a blog post.