When do tech companies need to be consistently profitable?

When do tech companies need to be consistently profitable?

From Marketplace Tech by Marketplace

April 22, 2026 · 10 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the need for tech companies to achieve consistent profitability, using Snap's recent layoffs as a case study.

The social media company Snap recently announced it’s laying off about 1,000 workers — 16% of its employees. The company said these changes will reduce costs by more than half a billion dollars and help establish a path to net income profitability. This move comes after one of Snap's investors, Irenic Capital Management, wrote a public letter to the company outlining what it needs to do to “save” the company and cut costs. Snap has been a public company for nine years. It's had just a few non-consecutive profitable quarters. Sarah Kunst, a general partner at the venture capital firm Cleo Capital, explains more about when a company has to be consistently profitable.

People in this episode

Guest: Sarah Kunst

Topics covered

  • profitability
  • tech companies
  • layoffs
  • venture capital
  • business strategy

Keywords

  • Snap
  • profitability
  • layoffs
  • venture capital
  • Irenic Capital Management
  • Cleo Capital

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Snap, Irenic Capital Management, Cleo Capital

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