Earlier this month, we reported the sad news that SoundCloud had closed several offices and laid off 40% of its current staff. While the company has since been ‘resurrected’ by Chance The Rapper it remains to be seen what exactly the future holds for the company.
As for the staff that was unfortunately laid off? They’ll be pleased to know that there’s a small windfall coming their way out of the blue courtesy of WeTransfer with one small contingency – they weren’t allowed to find a new job.
WeTransfer’s gracious donation to each former SoundCloud staff member is geared towards challenging each and every single one of them to come up with a new innovation in the music tech space in an email sent from WeTransfer’s Music Director Lukas Nieuwenhuijsen to FACT Magazine.
The email reads like so.
“[W]e’d like to prevent you from just simply ‘getting a job’.
Why? What’s wrong with a job? Nothing. It’s just that you might stray from your original mission to change the way we consume or create music – an endeavor that made SoundCloud unique in the world of tech.
So we’d like to make you an offer. $10,000 to start something. This is not a loan or equity exchange.
What we would like to see is a proposal for something you could design, build or manage that could be the new mail-order record club, SoundCloud or iTunes.
This is not an investment. I hear you – 10k is a modest amount – but we started small too, and it could act as a runway. Or it could pay for the lights on a runway. Somehow, it could help you get off the ground.”
WeTransfer president Damian Bradfield also penned a thought-provoking Medium piece on the rationale behind this decision which challenges the former SoundCloud staff to “innovate” in a space that sorely needs “challengers.”
As for the former SoundCloud staff: if you’re reading this and want to know how to get in touch, head on over here for a FAQ on the offer and all the necessary details you’ll need to invoice WeTransfer!
H/T: FACT