President, CEO Of Latino-Oriented Media Company Mitú Step Down Amid Round Of Layoffs

Major changes are coming to Mitú. The Latino-oriented digital media company has announced a round of layoffs, with co-founder and president Beatriz Acevedo and CEO Herb Scannell opting to step away from their positions and take on advisor roles at the comapny.

According to Mitú investor Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures, the media company’s latest moves are a response to a difficult landscape, in which several content publishers have been forced to make tough decisions. “Mitú is doing 10s of millions in revenue and has grown rapidly over the last several years, but the market has very clearly told us — and not just us, Buzzfeed, Vice and other people — that the market values profitability over growth at all costs,” Suster told TheWrap, where the news of Mitú’s changes was first reported.

Acevedo launched Mitú in 2012 as a destination for bilingual Latino content on platforms like YouTube. The network grew to encompass several of the top Latin-American creators in the online video world, and Acevedo and co. raised tens of millions in VC funding

But by the time Scannell, the former president of Nickelodeon, joined Mitú in 2017, the market was already changing. According to TheWrap, Scannell wanted Mitú to focus on premium original content for Latino viewers but was unable to raise the funding needed to support that operation.

Mitú did not specify the number of layoffs that will take place alongside the executive shakeup, but this will be the second time in less than the year that the media company has cut jobs. It announced “structural changes” late last year, during which a small number of employees lost their positions.