Cameo CEO on the Darkest Day: Cutting 180 Employees Down to 32

21 May 2026 · 2 min

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In this candid video, the Cameo CEO reflects on a series of strategic missteps that led the company into a severe crisis. He admits the firm was over‑aggressive in hiring, and when organic traffic to the site sharply declined, revenue fell in tandem. To stem losses, the company executed three rounds of reductions‑in‑force (RIFs), ultimately slashing headcount from roughly 180 employees to just 32. The CEO describes the gut‑wrenching emotional toll of letting go long‑tenured, high‑performing staff and the fear of turning Cameo into a "zombie" company. He explains the board’s push to retain a larger workforce (75‑100 people) versus his belief that only a minimal “turtle mode”—a lean, shell‑like operation—could keep the business alive and guide it to break‑even, despite the painful cuts.

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We were definitely overaggressive on hiring. And when the top line organic traffic to the site fell as precipitously as it did, you know, there was this period for a couple of years where it was a falling knife and, you know, we would cut as much as we thought we could. But then by cutting those people, that was less people reaching out to celebrities. So that's less, you know, it's like you cut and then revenue is falling. You'd have to cut more. And, you know, You know, the darkest day for sure was when we had to go from 180 people down to 32. And at that point, you know, we'd already gone through 2 RIFs. So this was our 3rd one. And, you know, that RIF, they're all hard, they're all terrible. But that RIF, there were a lot of people that were like, these are lifers of the company. And I knew what their personal ambitions were. And I also knew what we were going to need. And there are some people that I thought would be with us till we ring the bell one day that like we had to, you know, we had to part ways with. And it was absolutely gut-wrenching when you build this great culture, you have amazing people, and we had to go rip it down to the studs. And at the time, like our board, our executive team, like really felt like cutting to 75 or like 75 to 100, like Keeping it that amount of people was critical because otherwise we'd become a zombie company and there was no way we could ever grow again and the entire asset value would be destroyed. I knew I couldn't go up in front of the team again and say, hey, this isn't going to be the last riff. So I knew if we got to that, that tiny level, which we call turtle mode, like just get in your shell, stay alive, I knew that we could get to break even at that point, even though it was insanely painful with what we had to do.