Exhibit 99.1
February 13, 2023
Restructuring Twilio, and reducing the size of our team
Team,
A company optimizes for its environment. For the last 15 years, we ran Twilio for growth, building a tremendous customer base, product set, and revenue base. But environments change – and so must we. Now we have to prioritize profit far more than before. We’re exiting the last phase with a great market position, and very strong cash reserves, but unfortunately that’s not enough to get us through the next phase. We have to spend less, streamline, and become more efficient. To do that, we’re forming two business units: Twilio Communications and Twilio Data & Applications. And today, I’m unfortunately bearing the news that we’re parting ways with approximately 17% of our team.
This is upsetting to be sure, so I want to share with you the reasons for making this tough decision, as well as some other changes.
Why
As we’ve refined our strategy over the past several months, it’s become apparent we need significant structural changes to better execute our strategy. This is because the two parts of our business – communications and software – are at different lifecycle stages and have different operating needs. In Communications, we have to get more efficient. For Segment, Flex, and Engage, we must accelerate growth. These are distinctly different tasks for our teams, and our current structure is slowing our progress toward both these goals, which are critical to our growth, our profit, and our Customer Engagement Platform ambitions.
As a result, we’re forming two business units: Twilio Data & Applications, led by Elena Donio, and Twilio Communications, led by Khozema Shipchandler. Both will include Sales, R&D, and operational resources, and each will be empowered to optimize based on the needs of their respective customers and businesses. Each will be able to sprint toward their goals with more focus and independence – but they’re also highly complementary. I have said many times that Twilio’s products are better together – that we are One Twilio – and that belief has not changed.
When we look at these two business units on their own, it’s clear that we’ve gotten too big, especially in Communications. And that’s why we’re also letting go of some colleagues today. It is painful to part ways with so many talented people – but it’s necessary to get our two businesses into the right shape to succeed.
I’m sure you’re wondering why we’re making additional cuts to the team after the September layoffs. At that time, we sought to streamline the company as it was then structured. Today’s news, however, is more driven by the need to organize ourselves differently for success – and the changes needed to enact this new structure. Both the reorganization and the reductions increase our ability to drive profit and growth, both of which are required in this new environment.