Snap CEO Spiegel Restructures Firm Into Startup Squads Amid Ad Revenue Decline

Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel announced a major internal restructuring, organizing the company into small 'startup squads' of 10 to 15 employees to accelerate growth amid slowing advertising revenue and intensifying competition from tech giants like Meta, Alphabet, and TikTok. Advertising revenue growth stagnated at 4% in Q2 2025, while North American daily active users declined 2% to 98 million, signaling challenges in Snap's core market. Despite these setbacks, Snapchat+ subscriptions have become a significant revenue source, generating over $700 million annually from more than 15 million paying subscribers, marking direct revenue as one of Snap's fastest-growing areas. Snap is also investing heavily in augmented reality glasses called Specs, which Spiegel describes as a "once-in-a-generation transformation toward human-centered computing" that could eventually replace smartphones, aligning with similar efforts by Meta and Google. The company's market capitalization has dropped nearly 90% since its peak of $116 billion in September 2021, currently valued at approximately $12 billion, reflecting investor skepticism but potential for a startup-style return. Spiegel acknowledges this doubt but remains optimistic about Snap's future growth and innovation prospects through these strategic shifts.