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Hi readers,
Timing plays a vital part in when a story is ready to be told. Last August, I first caught wind of layoffs at Kumu. At that time, I tried reaching out to several sources to find out more information but didn’t get any response and decided to move on.
Months later, the story returned to me as I started to hear chatter about several rounds of layoffs and, more importantly, Kumu’s decline in users. This got me thinking: What were the deeper issues behind these symptoms?
This time around, the information started flowing. I also had help from my colleague Candice in reaching more sources and doing some research.
To be honest, I didn’t anticipate that we would get so much information – enough for us to write two stories about the firm. This was an investigative piece that consumed me and warranted to be told in the best possible way.
The first story is a deep dive on how Kumu went about trimming its headcount and the reasons behind its downsizing efforts. The company spent heavily on producing premium shows and acquiring users – efforts that weren’t giving the same return on investment as it did in 2022.
It also made me think about how essential it is for companies to be transparent to employees during such tough times. For instance, throwing staff events at fancy hotels or clubs – no matter how little these cost – might not be received well by employees just after a layoff.
If part one of the story talked about the symptoms, part two dives into the diagnosis and the heart of Kumu’s problems: its dwindling users, downloads, and consumer in-app spend. What’s interesting is the rise of TikTok in the livestreaming space in the Philippines at the same time.
Kumu’s co-founders were transparent and told us that their goal was to achieve profitability by Q3 this year and how they plan on getting there.
I find that social media is a tough space for a product to find long-lasting success. Unless you can reinvent your product or introduce a new one, there will always be something fresh on the block for people to move on to.
Do let me know your thoughts on the Kumu story.
— Collin Furtado, journalist at Tech in Asia
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Image credit: Timmy Loen
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