Kickstarter shakes up leadership team, terminating senior employees and promoting execs, as it tries to rebrand itself

Kickstarter’s chief legal officer, chief strategy officer, vice president of product, and vice president of creator and backer success are among the people leaving, Fortune has learned. As part of the changes, Kickstarter’s vice president of brand marketing, Courtney Brown Warren, was promoted to chief marketing officer, and Mahesh Guruswamy, Kickstarter’s chief technology officer, was promoted to chief product and technology officer.

Once a buzzy startup in New York’s burgeoning tech scene, 15-year-old Kickstarter has been trying to reinvent itself after years of flatlined growth, CEO turnover, and contentious union push by rank-and-file employees. This week’s shakeup is the latest attempt by the company to restore its relevance, now under CEO Everette Taylor, who took over the position in 2022. 

“Kickstarter is undergoing a strategic restructuring to become a more agile and collaborative organization. This means a flatter management structure, streamlined workflows, and teams aligned for better synergy,” a Kickstarter spokeswoman said in a statement. She added, “This change will ultimately allow us to better serve the creative projects and communities that are at the heart of Kickstarter.” When reached via phone, email, or LinkedIn, impacted employees either declined to comment or didn’t respond. 

Taylor, who was hired as CEO shortly after Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm secretly led a $100 million tender offer three years ago, announced the changes on Thursday during the company’s all-hands meeting. Taylor informed employees that the restructuring was the result of employee surveys and the board wanting to reduce the size of the executive team, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. 

But rumors of the changes had already been circulating around the company after a Slack automated bot notified staffers that people’s accounts had been deactivated. The news even reached some ex-staffers before the time of the all-hands conference call, according to a person familiar with the messages. 

Taylor took over the company during a turbulent time in Kickstarter’s history. After generating considerable buzz early on, Kickstarter’s growth stagnated as the company tried to expand its crowdfunding business. A divisive union push exacerbated tensions between leadership and rank-and-file employees, and the company fired two of the union organizers in 2019. 

In early December 2021, Kickstarter had a funding round led by a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, in the form of a tender offer, meaning employees could sell their equity to the new investors. As part of the deal, Kickstarter explored relaunching its platform on a little-known blockchain called Celo—an initiative that has yet to pan out.

During Taylor’s tenure as CEO, Kickstarter has emphasized increasing its sources of revenue and has hired a new CFO.