Another Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Media Story: Oyster.com Scales Back
Less than six months after launch, hotel-review website Oyster.com has laid off “a subset” of its reporters, possibly up to 75 percent of its 20-person reporting staff, FBNY reports.
The site launched in June to a bit of fanfare, with real reporters with real salaries (mid-to-high double digits), so promising that the startup received 1,500 applicants for six positions in October. Back then, we learned that “morale was high” among the staff members, though that may not be true anymore.
FBNY also includes a statement from CEO and co-founder Elie Seidman:
After a burst of massive growth over the past 18 months, we’ve covered a very large percentage of the U.S. leisure market with a product that has been incredibly well received. In order to focus on winning in the markets we’ve already covered, we’ve decided to slightly slow our rate of new market coverage.
We will focus on continuing to improve the depth and quality of our product for the markets we’ve already covered: New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Aruba, Maui, Kauai, Oahu, and San Francisco. We will also focus engineering time on usability and improve the site’s ease of use by adding new features and functionality. In addition, we will launch coverage of Boston; Washington, DC; and Orlando hotels between now and March followed by other key markets during the remainder of 2010.
It may also be worth noting that Oyster.com is looking for a VP of marketing on our job board right now.
Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online 
MediaJobsDaily Twitter feed loading...
