Substack Joins Lists of Creator Economy Layoffs (Chart); FCC Snipes at TikTok

Substack on Wednesday said it was laying off 13 employees, or 14% of its total workforce, citing an uncertain macroeconomic outlook. The newsletter subscription site is just the latest creator economy startup to cut workers, as our latest chart shows. The list ranges from celebrity video shoutout app Cameo to fan texting app Community to online course maker MasterClass. They’re part of a broader wave of layoffs at tech startups, which totaled nearly 15,000 in May, according to data from Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking job cuts in the global startups industry.

The cuts come as startups face a far more difficult fundraising environment than they did last year. Investing in U.S. creator economy startups dropped in the first quarter from the fourth, the second straight quarter of decline, according to The Information’s Creator Economy Database.  That funding has likely slid again this quarter, a jarring contrast from last year, when VC excitement for companies servicing creators reached a fever pitch and investors poured more than $5 billion into U.S. creator economy startups.