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Dapper Labs is laying off 20% of its full-time staff in a renewed bid to restructure the organization, according to a letter to staff sent Thursday by founder and CEO Roham Gharegozlou.
“We are restructuring the Dapper Labs organization to improve our focus and efficiency, strengthening our position in the market and better serving our communities,” Gharegozlou wrote, adding that those who did not receive a notification were not impacted.
It is the second notable round of layoffs. In November, Dapper Labs laid off 22% of its employees, citing too-rapid growth—headcount had ballooned from 100 to 600 employees in less than two years. At the time, Gharegozlou said the cuts were necessary for the long-term health of Dapper's business and communities.
“We are deeply grateful to our departing colleagues and wish them well in future endeavors,” he wrote in today's staff letter. “Today is a difficult day—please be there for each other, and take time for yourselves.”
He encouraged employees to reach out to their team leaders or even to him directly if they have questions or want to talk. He reassured the remaining staff that those laid off were being well cared for.
“The team worked hard to create a package of benefits to help support every individual, including generous compensation, health continuation benefits, extended exercise windows for equity stock options, and mental health benefits as well as job search support,” he said.
It has already been a challenging week for the company. On Wednesday, United States District Court Judge Victor Marrero denied Dapper’s request to dismiss a lawsuit regarding the platform’s NBA Top Shot NFT collection, writing that the NFTs offered by Dapper’s platform appear to meet the definition of a security.
“There is a lot of misinformation circulating about the nature of this ruling,” Gharegozlou said. “All the ruling means is that the case goes to discovery with absolutely no substantive decision on whether NBA Top Shots are securities.”
Gharegozlou closed by thanking the Dapper Labs team, saying he is committed to improving how the company operates, learning from the past, and growing Dapper Labs products and communities.