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☆ Dropbox lays off 20% of employees and joins Big Tech's flattening trend. Read CEO Drew Houston's memo.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Jaures Yip | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox is laying off 528 employees, about 20% of its workforce, and making the company flatter. AdvertisementDropbox is the latest major company to slash its staff and flatten its organizational structure. "We've heard from many of you that our organizational structure has become overly complex, with excess layers of management slowing us down." Mark Zuckerberg instituted manager cuts and increased the average number of direct reports for Meta managers after complaining about "managers managing managers." Houston's memo to employees at the time also attributed those layoffs to headwinds and freeing up investment bandwidth for more products powered by artificial intelligence.

Persons: Drew Houston, —, I'm, Houston, We've, Andy Jassy, Mark Zuckerberg, Dropbox Organizations: Service, —, Amazon

☆ Dropbox slashes 20% of global workforce, eliminating more than 500 roles
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-30 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Drew Houston, Dropbox Co-Founder and CEO, speaking at CNBC's @Work conference in San Francisco on November 4, 2019. Dropbox is laying off 20% of its global workforce, the equivalent of 528 roles, CEO Drew Houston announced Wednesday in a note to staff. The company is in a "transitional period" as its file sync and share business and its Dash artificial-intelligence search feature mature, Houston wrote. Dropbox will be making cuts to the parts of its business where the company is "over-invested or underperforming" while working toward a "flatter, more efficient" team structure, Houston wrote. "We continue to see softening demand and macro headwinds in our core business," Houston wrote.

Persons: Drew Houston, Dropbox, Houston, We've Organizations: Big Tech Locations: San Francisco

☆ Dropbox's CEO explains why the company adopted Jeff Bezos' 'memo-first' meeting culture from Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-18 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company uses memos in meetings, which begin with attendees reading them and leaving comments. Amazon's Jeff Bezos famously banned PowerPoints in exec meetings, instead asking for 6-page memos. AdvertisementJeff Bezos' rules for meetings at Amazon have made their way to Dropbox. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said his company has adopted the "memo-first" meeting culture. Instead, he asks for a 6-page "narratively structured" memo, and the meeting kicks off with attendees silently reading it.

Persons: Dropbox, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, —, Jeff Bezos, Drew Houston, you've, Logan Bartlett, Houston, PowerPoints, Bezos, they've Organizations: Service, Amazon Locations: Dropbox

☆ Dropbox CEO says employees appreciate remote work more than cushy office perks: 'they value flexibility a lot more than snacks'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewDropbox cofounder and CEO Drew Houston said he views his employees like customers, and that means giving them what they want — which isn't in-person work. Many companies are pushing employees to return to office in a hybrid structure, including giants like Google, Apple, and Amazon. Transitioning to virtual first meant getting rid of the "super vibrant in-person culture" Dropbox had before, the CEO said. But Houston said people voted "voted with their feet that they value flexibility a lot more than snacks in the office." AdvertisementThe CEO said one of the problems with hybrid work is it puts employees on a leash to tied to the nearby office space.

Persons: —, Drew Houston, Houston, Dropbox, Aaron Wojack, would've Organizations: Service, Business, Apple, Dropbox, Michelin, Google, Chicago Locations: San Francisco, Boston, LA, Houston

☆ How to stop Dropbox from sharing your personal files with OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-13 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

If you've used any of Dropbox 's artificial intelligence tools, some of your documents and files may have been shared with OpenAI. Dropbox AI customer documents pass through and are stored on OpenAI's servers for up to 30 days. "Third-party AI services are only used when customers actively engage with Dropbox AI features which themselves are clearly labeled," he wrote, pointing to a screenshot. Dropbox's third-party AI data sharing only applies to users who want Dropbox's AI features, which is available through many of Dropbox's paid plans, or through its Early Access program. But, even if you've opted out, any files shared with another person who is using Dropbox AI could still be sent to OpenAI servers.

Persons: Drew Houston, you've, Google's Bard, Anthropic's Claude, Zoom, Dropbox's, Dropbox Organizations: CNBC PRO Locations: San Francisco, There's, Dropbox

☆ Dropbox plans to pay $79 million to shrink its huge SF office, after CEO says the RTO push will fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox will pay $79 million to give up 165,000 square feet of office space at its San Francisco HQ. The company switched to remote working during the pandemic and workers now follow a '90/10' routine. CEO Drew Houston has backed remote working, and said the return-to-office push is doomed to fail. AdvertisementAdvertisementDropbox is spending $79 million to give up a quarter of its San Francisco headquarters, as it continues to bet that remote working is here to stay. Dropbox's move to cut back on its physical office space is a fresh blow to San Francisco, which is going through a commercial real estate crisis .

Persons: Dropbox, Drew Houston, —, Fortune, Houston, Jones Lang LaSalle Organizations: San Francisco HQ, Service, San, SEC, CNBC, Jones Locations: San Francisco, Mission Bay

☆ Dropbox handing over 25% of San Francisco HQ back to landlord as commercial real estate softens
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox said Friday that it's agreed to return over one quarter of its San Francisco headquarters to the landlord as the commercial real estate market continues to soften following the Covid pandemic. In a filing, Dropbox said it agreed to surrender to its landlord 165,244 square feet of space and pay $79 million in termination fees. Under the amendment to its lease agreement, Dropbox will offload the space over time through the first quarter of 2025. In addition, Dropbox took a $175.2 million impairment on the office last year "as a result of adverse changes" in the market. Dropbox had tried working with its landlord to sublease space at the headquarters, but the real estate market deteriorated, finance chief Tim Regan, told analysts on a February earnings call.

Persons: Dropbox, it's, we've, Drew Houston, Dropbox's, Uber, Tim Regan Organizations: San Francisco, Vir Biotechnology, CNBC, Private, KKR, Kilroy Realty Corp, San Francisco Chronicle, Microsoft Locations: Mission, Dropbox

☆ The CEO of Dropbox has a 90/10 rule for remote work
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston told Fortune his company uses a 90/10 rule for remote work. This means 90% of the year is spent on remote work, and the remaining 10% is dedicated to employee off-site events. AdvertisementAdvertisementDrew Houston, the CEO of file storage company Dropbox, is continuing to tout a predominantly remote work culture, even as business leaders increasingly call for their workers to return to the office. Dropbox uses a 90/10 rule, with 90% of the year spent on remote work and the remaining 10% spent on a handful of employee off-sites, the company's CEO told Fortune in an interview published Sunday. The company first announced it was becoming a "virtual first" company in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making remote work the default for workers.

Persons: Drew Houston, Fortune, —, Houston, Mark Zuckerberg, Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, Jamie Dimon, hasn't Organizations: Houston, Service, Dropbox, Forbes, JPMorgan Locations: San Francisco, Houston

☆ Dropbox's CEO on implementing A.I. as a collaboration tool for human workstreams
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailDropbox's CEO on implementing A.I. as a collaboration tool for human workstreamsCNBC's Deirdre Bosa and Dropbox Co-Founder and CEO Drew Houston join 'The Exchange' to discuss integrating A.I., A.I. and human collaboration, and improving efficiency with new technologies.

☆ CEOs are getting closer to finally saying it — AI will wipe out more jobs than they can count
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech workers are finding out what it's like to be replaced by AI. It's the boldest statement yet from tech firms turning to AI to help them get efficient. Tech workers are about to find out. Here are five tech firms that have acted first with a big bet on AI. AmazonAmazon has been among the most bruised tech firms since the downturn of 2022 was kickstarted.

☆ Dropbox to cut workforce by 16%, hire new talent for AI-powered products
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Cloud storage provider Dropbox Inc (DBX.O) said on Thursday it would reduce its global workforce by 16% to cut costs amid slowing cloud growth, and instead hire new talent to build its AI offerings. San Francisco, California-based Dropbox is the latest tech company to tap AI as Big Tech players from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) battle for a slice of the fast-growing market with new products and offerings. At the end of 2022, the company had 3,118 full-time employees, of which 2,583 were located in the United States. "We've been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more," Houston said in a memo to staff. Houston is also on the board of Meta Platforms, which said on Wednesday AI was helping it boost traffic to Facebook and Instagram and earn more in ad sales.

☆ Reddit, Airbnb and 8 more companies that let you work from home permanently and are hiring now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While some companies are pulling back on flexibility, others, like Airbnb and Pinterest, are celebrating one year since permanently switching to remote or hybrid work. That being said, the remote job market has gotten more competitive. Recent remote job openings: Corporate account executive, product designerRedditIndustry: Social media Remote work plans: Reddit switched to a permanent hybrid model in October 2020 where employees have the flexibility to work wherever they want, with options for in-office work. Recent remote job openings: Global category development officer, partnership leadAirbnbIndustry: Travel Remote work plans: Under Airbnb's "live and work anywhere" model, which began in April 2022, employees can work remotely or from one of Airbnb's offices. Recent remote job openings: User operations associate, partner account executiveVerizon

☆ Dropbox hit with $175 million real estate loss for 2022 as San Francisco office space sits empty
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Its total real estate impairment for the year was $175.2 million, which is still well below the $400 million hit the company took in late 2020. That reduced the company's need for office space and pushed it to find tenants to sublease significant chunks of its headquarters. "And there's certainly been an increase in supply for real estate for sublease, which has pushed out our anticipated time to lease." Salesforce , Airbnb , Uber and Zendesk are among other companies that have taken real estate impairments in the city. Dropbox executives had expected to sublease the company's San Francisco property in the middle of 2023.

☆ Dropbox helped end the physical thumb drive era, but the cloud is getting crowded
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Barbara Collins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this weekly series, CNBC takes a look at companies that made the inaugural Disruptor 50 list, 10 years later. The result was Dropbox, a company that has now made a name for itself as one of the leading organization and collaboration tools worldwide. Today, Dropbox reports having more than 700 million registered users in more than 180 countries and regions globally. In its most recent quarter, Dropbox reported $591 million in revenue with a net profit of $83.2 million. Over 17.5 million users pay for its services, and the company has said more than 90% of its revenue results from individual consumers buying subscriptions.

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