Outside Inc makes 12% workforce cut on advertising slowdown

Outside Inc – the parent publisher to VeloNews, CyclingTips, PinkBike, B2B Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, plus the Trailforks platform – has announced a number of staff layoffs this week.

Among those laid off are senior journalists across the portfolio Caley Fretz, Dave Rome, Matt de Neef and Daniel Benson, plus sales staff, including long-termer Steve Brawley. An estimated 12% of the publisher’s force is said to have been let go.

It is the second time this year that the publisher has trimmed its ranks in pursuit of profitability by cost reduction, earlier in May additionally cutting Peloton and Beta’s print magazines. The titles were acquired only in July of 2021.

The news was met by dismay on the forum of CyclingTips, with numerous users flooding the message board with pledges to unsubscribe. There even now exists a GoFundMe, set up by ex VeloNews staffer Dan Cavallari, that seeks to raise $500,000 to pursue an independent reader funded platform from the rubble of the layoffs.

Alongside, CyclingTips Founder Wade Wallace published a blog suggesting he was dismayed at the decision and hoped to help pick up some of the pieces for his former colleagues. “I’ve decided something needs to be done…”, he wrote, before dangling a teaser of a “Part 2 of the journey.”

Behind the decision is Robin Thurston, the CEO of Outside, who said that a slowdown in advertising led to the cuts. As the others have, Thurston has given a public account on Medium.com.

He wrote: “Earlier this year, we began a major push to focus on profitability, with significant steps beginning in May to reduce expenses across all areas of the business. Unfortunately, the economic headwinds that every media and technology business is facing have only intensified, and those reductions haven’t closed the gap enough on the timeline we must hit.

“The decision to part ways with 12% of our staff today was especially difficult given that the fundamentals of our business are sound. We’ve made meaningful progress on membership and product development, and we’re seeing the fruits of increased collaboration across our teams. That said, we must make Outside self-sustaining. Getting to profitability will enable us to control our destiny as co-owners of a company with an extremely important mission.”

He outlined a critical goal to hit profitability by “next fall”, adding that fresh funding had been secured in the past 60 days, but that Outside must “manage our costs more tightly.”

One affected insider told CI.N: “Robin just told everyone he hadn’t had a raise in 5 years! Tiny violins were played.”

Thurston’s blog suggested that an extended severance programme was on offer to cut staffers, regardless of tenure. The window to exercise stock options was also apparently extended from 90 days to 5 years.

CyclingIndustry.News expects to have further insight on this story shortly, so check back for more.