ERIC PIERMONT
- Evan Spiegel is having an "Elon moment," according to a report from the The Information citing staff.
- The 33-year-old Snap CEO is taking a hands-on approach and asking employees to work harder.
- Business Insider reported in October that staff in Snap's ad business are struggling with nitpicking and micromanagement.
Snap employees are comparing its CEO's recent leadership style to billionaire Elon Musk as he pushes for a more "hardcore" work culture to pull the company out of its recent slump, The Information reported Tuesday.
Several employees who left the company recently told The Information that Snap's 33-year-old cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel is in his "Elon era" or "Elon moment," as he makes decisions emulating the billionaire's "hardcore" work culture at X — formerly Twitter.
Although Spiegel hasn't explicitly said he's inspired by Musk, he has praised some of his ideas for X.
Employees said that Spiegel has taken a much more hands-on approach. This includes walking around the company's Santa Monica headquarters in the evenings and quizzing employees at their desks about what they're working on.
He even pointed out in a recent all-hands meeting that he noticed the same group of people working late in a clear directive to staff to work harder, according to two people who were present.
Spiegel has also started holding several weekly meetings with the advertising and content teams asking questions about specific features and making launch decisions, three people familiar with the matter told The Information. Previously, these meetings were typically held by lower-level executives.
Spiegel's increased focus on efficiency comes with the company having experienced declining revenue and sales in the past year — the first such declines since it went public in 2017.
In another major blow to the company, Amazon cut advertising spend on Snap earlier this year, Business Insider reported in October, citing a former senior exec. Snap's advertising business makes up a huge chunk of its revenue.
One employee told BI at the time that leaders at the company were "massively nitpicking on every piece of work delivered," and that they quit because of the micromanaging and blame being placed on the advertising departments.
Since the company laid off around 20% of its workforce — over 1,200 people — last year, several high-level executives have also exited the company.
Nima Khajehnouri, vice president of engineering; chief business officer Jeremi Gorman; head of sales Peter Naylor; Snap's first COO Jerry Hunter, and several others have left the company.
"In 2024, we're going to keep it simple by investing in what is working while stretching to accomplish more, faster," Spiegel said in an internal memo, per The Information.
Snap did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, sent outside of regular working hours.