Why do we strive to create products that allow people to achieve these things? Why do we come to work everyday? Because we care about what you care about.
Yes, we do all of that, but we needed to get to the why, not the what. None of them were wrong per se all of them reflected aspects of what we do: We help you remember everything. When asking ourselves what we stand for, the question yielded an array of answers. "I really think Chris O’Neill is making some smart decisions, and I would say most people in the office, even though it’s pretty painful, thinks this guy has a good plan," the source said.We want to provide a way to help you focus on what matters most. One former employee said the team at Evernote has been excited about O'Neill's arrival about two months ago. got a huge customer base and a great brand,” he said. “Having a new CEO can often reinvigorate a company, especially if he or she can bring in good management team. Lemkin also agreed, pointing out that new CEOs could often bring renewed energy to the company. “I suspect what they’re doing is cutting now so they can control their own destiny later,” he added. But if you actually want to build a great company and try to make a run at the big vision, then you do need to take a step back when things aren’t working optimally, and then try to take the two steps forward," said Deeter, whose firm has investments in Evernote competitors such as Box. "They could have probably BS’d around a little longer. Among the employees let go in the recent round of layoffs were its director of developer relations, Chris Traganos, as well as several members of his team.īut contrary to recent rumors of Evernote closing off its API, the company said it's still open, and we've heard its platform integrations could get even stronger in the coming weeks. “It doesn't mean the company's going under, but it's usually one of the first things to go.”Įvernote appears to be downsizing the team in charge of the platform it provides for developers. “If someone cancels a developers conference, it’s usually a sign that there’s stress around cash management,” said Jason Lemkin, a veteran tech entrepreneur and venture investor.
Last year’s conference featured celebrities like the hosts of “MythBusters” and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. The hosts of "MythBusters" were invited to last year's EC4.īut perhaps the biggest savings will come from canceling its annual developers conference, called Evernote Conference, which has been held in San Francisco for the past four years. Libin quickly addressed the issue, even personally reaching out to the writer and vowing in an all-hands meeting to focus on improving “quality” that year. Instead of focusing on its core note-taking product and on converting users to the paid service, Evernote spent more time releasing a bunch of new products and features that only helped it grab news headlines, they said.įor example, in early 2014, a former TechCrunch writer published a scathing blog post hammering Evernote’s glitch-filled product. Several former employees believe a lack of focus hampered Evernote's growth. It's a sobering reality check about the business challenges that can derail even the hottest tech sensations. But most people we spoke to seem to agree that the company has failed to take advantage of its red-hot growth and make enough money from much of its huge user base - and is starting to show early signs of being an ailing unicorn. Depending on where you stand, Evernote is either a sinking ship or a maturing company going through a normal transition cycle.