HackerOne CEO, Marten Mickos, emailed the following note to employees on August 2, 2023.
H1 Team,
I have made the painful and necessary decision to undertake a restructuring and we will reduce the size of our team by up to approximately 12%. This comes as disappointing news, as we’ve all built strong connections with our fellow Hackeronies. These actions are necessary to be successful long-term. However, I understand how difficult this news is and the impact this will have on all team members, and I take responsibility for the changes we are sharing today.
How are we handling departures?
If you are impacted, we aim to notify you as soon as we can while complying with each region’s applicable rules and regulations. Impacted employees in the U.S. and Canada will receive a meeting invitation in the next 15 minutes.
It is expected that the reorganization will also affect employees in the U.K., the Netherlands, and other countries. After completing the relevant consultation proceedings, we will be able to inform all people involved with more detail. These processes will take longer.
We are offering severance packages to impacted employees that include cash compensation and non-cash benefits. Please monitor your email for country, role-specific information, and other details.
What do we see in our business?
HackerOne, like many tech companies, has been navigating the global economic situation and the resulting shifts in our market. Our strategic plan includes investment in new product families and expanding the capabilities of our platform to expand into the enterprise. A little over a year ago, I authorized the continued hiring of new employees to fulfill this strategy.
However, we did not anticipate the degree to which the overall economic situation is affecting us, with smaller companies running out of money and larger ones taking longer to make purchasing decisions. The new products we brought to market didn’t perform the way we wanted them to. Our bets on hiring and new products proved to be too big, and we must now restructure our teams to be successful in the future.
We’ve designed this reduction in force as a one-time event. We don’t claim to have perfect visibility into our future financial performance or the macroeconomic climate, but we unequivocally wanted to take a single action and move forward with confidence.
How do we move forward?
HackerOne remains a category leader. We are one of the most important contributors to cybersecurity worldwide. We plan to be better, stronger, and faster when an improved business climate ultimately emerges.
My goal is to make every Hackeronie proud, no matter when and for how long they worked at the company. We win as a team, so we also lose as a team. This decision marks a loss. Those remaining in the company are tasked with creating a bigger win over time. I remain as committed and confident as ever.
You will have many questions for me and the leadership team now. An honest question will receive an honest answer. I asked all department leaders to communicate with your team about the impact on workload and meet to discuss next steps.
The decision is painful to me because we hired each one of you to pursue our strategy and build an outstanding business. We have a clear mission and a strong company culture. Each one of you is a devoted team member, investing your time and mind into the success of HackerOne. Now as we must say goodbye to some of you, I want to express my deep appreciation of your unwavering commitment to the company.
Marten
Any inquiries, please send to press@hackerone.com.