Still, with a chunk of Reddit shut down, there’s no initial public offering. So if Huffman really wants to go public, he will need to find a way to align moderators and investors. One option would be to pay mods, or – if they don’t want to become de-facto employees – reward them in other ways. For example, he has pledged to develop new tools to replace the beloved apps. Either path involves higher costs, and a more tortuous path to profitability.
In short, the mods have shown that Reddit needs a business-model tweak. And potential investors will want to see it in action before shelling out for the shares, which makes a rushed IPO seem unwise. The self-branded “front page of the internet” has been waiting to IPO since 2021; it may have to moderate its expectations again.
“In addition to setting guidelines for their forums, many are quasi-influencers who engage and lure users. And unlike counterparts elsewhere, Reddit’s mods are unpaid. That makes them an odd hybrid of employees, customers and suppliers. Researchers at Northwestern University estimate that Reddit’s mods perform at least $3.4 million worth of labor annually.”
It’s a good explanation of why Reddit’s structure is both brilliant and fragile. They depend on this labor which costs them nothing, but that also means they don’t really have control over them. Huffman can’t just say shut up and get back to work since they’re not on the payroll.
It also paints a much bleaker picture of their business prospects than most of the other articles I’ve seen. They seem believe the weaknesses that were revealed by this blackout are going to prevent them from going public any time soon.
Good