BENlabs Names New CEO and Lays Off Half Its Staff After Failed AI SaaS Experiment

BENlabs, formerly Branded Entertainment Network, has cut half its staff and pulled the plug on CEO Ricky Ray Butler and his ongoing efforts to transform the company into an Al SaaS provider.

ADWEEK obtained an email to the staff from May 24 announcing the cuts written by the company’s new CEO Ted Sheffield, and it said that BENlabs’ parent company, Gates Ventures, decided to cut its losses after several years of heavy financial losses.

The email began: “Over the past several years, we have attempted to fundamentally transition our value proposition from our core offerings (product placement, influencer marketing, and TubeBuddy) towards a technology offering consisting of Al SaaS and Services. This was an ambitious, challenging, and very expensive vision to pursue.”

The email continued that BENlabs is reflecting on why it strayed from its core value proposition of providing product placement, influencer marketing and its YouTube optimization tools, stating the company needed to return to those core offerings and not become a SaaS company.

Sheffield stated that the company needs to go through a “difficult restructuring process” that will shift how it works to create a more sustainable future.

“The most painful part of this process will be a significant reduction in force, eliminating approximately half of our roles in the U.S. and identifying additional roles for potential redundancy globally over the next several months. These role eliminations and potential redundancies will be across all teams and seniority levels as we re-focus on a clear strategic vision to rebuild as a profitable company,” said the email.

It went on to say all its U.S. employees would receive an email stating if their role had been retained or eliminated. Sheffield apologized that it had to be by email and not through individual conversations.

“As part of this change, Ricky Ray Butler will be departing as CEO of BENlabs. We will be adopting a new leadership structure, in which Erin Schmidt will be leading a focused Product Placement business, Jake Maughan will be leading a focused Influencer business, and Tyler Folkman will be leading a focused TubeBuddy business. I will be serving as CEO,” Sheffield stated in the email.

Where did it go wrong?

An employee who was let go and requested anonymity stated that when Butler took the CEO position, he had a grand vision of making Branded Entertainment Network into an AI-powered software as a service (SaaS) company and convinced Gates Ventures to invest millions into that venture.

The problem was the company didn’t have the resources or knowledge base to make that huge shift.

“I equate it to turning a restaurant into an accounting firm,” said the ex-employee.

The source said the company became focused on Butler’s mission and didn’t listen to what other executives at the company were saying about sticking to what the company did best.

Under Butler, Branded Entertainment Network rebranded twice, first as BEN Group and then BENlabs. He stated that the marketing team was fired and hired numerous times and many people didn’t know who the marketing team was.

According to the employee, the AI venture was “extremely challenging and extraordinarily expensive,” so much so that it required an infusion of money from Gates Ventures to keep it going.

The employee said the company didn’t communicate what was happening, so there was no time to prepare for the end. He said that the company eventually stopped paying some creators, influencers and vendors.

The employee said that this layoff resulted in half the staff being laid off, but there were a couple of layoffs before this one, so he believes the number is higher.

A second source who formerly worked at Branded Entertainment Network and is familiar with the recent happenings at the company confirmed the ex-employee’s statements.

Sheffield’s email ends recognizing that the path forward will be difficult.

“For those who will remain with the company, I would ask that you use the days and weeks ahead to join me in expressing empathy and gratitude for our friends and colleagues who will be departing.”

ADWEEK reached out to BENlabs and the company referred to its latest LinkedIn post.