Today I've made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coinbase by ~14%

mhitza

At least the compensation package sounds nice for those layed off. What I'm really intrigued by is the non technical staff deploying code to production. Now that's a gamble I want to see in the crypto space.

ablation

"Non-technical teams are now shipping production code"

jqpabc123

Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. And I suspect that over the coming year, we'll be watching the consequences of this unfold.

gustavus

> Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. As a security engineer this statements fills me dread.

conception

Lol “Non-technical teams are now shipping production code” definitely what I want my financial institution doing.

ravenstine

> We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including “one person teams” with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role. Experimenting or cost-cutting? Are these one-person "teams" you g to be paid more for having multi-domain roles regardless of how fast AI can churn out pseudo-MVPs? We're going to see this become a trend beyond Coinbase, IMO. The idea that companies just want employees to be more productive is a farce. The C-suite would prefer to make no profit, have few to no employees, and get personally richer in the process.

saos

> Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. T Is Brian here? Can he speak more to this? What exactly are non technicals shipping to production code? I've got no position in Coinbase but is that a wise thing to say as a public company? I'd be alarmed if I were a share holder

sergiotapia

Even his post is written by AI. Now that's efficiency!

close04

> Coinbase is well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams, and is well-positioned to weather any storm. Crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption Crypto is always about to take off. If the company is sitting so well, and is facing imminent growth, then they don't need to do layoffs, they want to. Or the company is not sitting so rosy and they're not too sure about their future. > Non-technical teams are now shipping production code What could go wrong?

andy_ppp

"Difficult decision" says billionaire sacking people, many of whom have families, so he can make even more money.

SamPatt

Many comments are mocking the "Non-technical teams are now shipping production code" line as an obvious disaster waiting to happen. I think this will be commonplace in the not too distant future. Some disasters will happen, just like they did before AI. Skeptics will gleefully point out these failures while more and more non-technical teams ship code.

bronxpockfabz

> Crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption Since roughly 2018 I reckon, at least.

rvz

Coinbase has achieved "AGI" internally.

martypitt

> Rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it. Oof. That smacks of hubris and valley-buzzwordism. > Leaders will own much more, with as many as 15+ direct reports. > Every leader at Coinbase must also be a strong and active individual contributor. So, a manager who's managing 15 people AND expected to ship -- that sounds awful for both sides.

Saline9515

The reality is that Coinbase earns on trading volume, and since we are in a crypto bear market, revenue is down. So they have to cut to keep the company profitable (or in line with what the investors expect). While AI is likely a productivity boost, the underlying reason is not AI.

DocTomoe

> Leaders will own much more Heh. This is the kind of phrasing that just begs to be misunderstood.

BoggleOhYeah

What is going to be the event that triggers Wall Street to realize a lot of these companies have been lying about their financials?

wiseowise

> - No pure managers: Every leader at Coinbase must also be a strong and active individual contributor. Managers should be like player-coaches, getting their hands dirty alongside their teams. Geeks who didn't even stand near professional sports should really shut up about anything sport related, lol. I would really like to see professional, established coach running around with young prodigies on a peak of their biology. > - AI-native pods: We’ll be concentrating around AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact. We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including “one person teams” with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role. And AI clowns will cheer and applaud this, not seeing that they're now doing the job of 5(!) people with the same salary. Why is nobody talking about this? Also, I find it really bizarre that those neo feudal lords see their companies as just a life stock to count. They don't even count people, just see them as numbers to reduce/scale up. Modern tsardom, but instead of being tied via official decree you're now tied by your lifestyle and family. "Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make"

mooreds

I'll probably get some flack for this, but this is about as good of a layoff email as he could have sent. * explains the reasons (financials, AI enablement) * talks about what folks who are leaving get in detail (first) and thanks them * talks to the folks who are staying Layoffs are hard, no doubt, and I am not sure he's making the right choice. I see plenty of doubt about some of the actions in other comments that echoes mine. I certainly wouldn't want to have 15 direct reports and also ship production code regularly. But as CEO, it's his job to make these kinds of choices. The proof is in the pudding as they say. We'll see how Coinbase does with this new orientation in the next year or so and that will determine if this was a wise or foolish move. Is there a flood of talent leaving? Major breaches? Business as usual with better than expected profits? Time will tell.

keybored

> Second, AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day. As a reward, people driving the productivity have now received a reduction in their colleague pool.