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Loic Le Meur Discusses Seesmic Layoffs; Community Response is Fascinating

Submitted by on October 11, 2008 – 9:30 am347 Comments

Loic Le Meur, founder of Seesmic, laid off over one-third of the company as the economy continues to weaken and start-ups continue to be affected in various, meaningful ways.

Seesmic is certainly not the only company to be affected in this manner (more will occur)… and, in and of itself, I typically wouldn’t write about this. But I was struck by Loic’s decision to cover the changes via a Seesmic video – a controversial, but admirable decision. It is clear that Loic was troubled by the decision and, for a usually upbeat / engaging personality, the video is hard to watch – whether you are an entrepreneur, colleague, investor, etc.

After watching the video, I scrolled down to Loic’s comment system (powered by Disqus), and was blown away by the discussion.

There are dozens and dozens of thorough comments. Some text, some Seesmic replies. This is a result of the deep issue, Loic’s following and the power of a communal / distributed comment system like Disqus + Seesmic.

Also striking was the quality of the replies. Most are well thought out and reflective of the economic situation (see Jeff Clavier). Others are clearly angry for a variety of reasons (high sense of bitterness). And others are opportunistic (ie offering readers blogging jobs for their companies).

I am not sure what to make of all of this – but the levels of interaction and emotion are fascinating.

Tough times. Tough decisions.also read my blog post http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2008/10/tough-times-tou.html

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