The company “Artesian Builds” manufactures custom gaming PCs. The CEO of the company, Noah Katz, changed the rules for a giveaway during a livestream and excluded a Twitch streamer from the prize. This triggered a catastrophic backlash, and the company had to shut down. But it becomes clear that the story is even worse.
What exactly happened?
- The head of the company “Artesian Builds”, Noah Katz, held a live giveaway on Twitch at the beginning of March for a gaming PC that a small Twitch streamer won. However, Katz thought the winner was too insignificant and hadn’t generated any sales as a brand ambassador, so he excluded her. His tone was triumphant.
- The streamer reacted indignantly on Twitter, feeling belittled and defamed by the treatment. The complaint exploded on social media: there was a shitstorm against “Artesian Builds”, sponsors withdrew, and partners distanced themselves from the company.
- On March 9, the company announced that it would cease operations. They now want to seek outside help and restart anew.
Fired employees leak many embarrassing internals to YouTubers
Why is the story getting crazier? In the aftermath of the scandal, some YouTubers have looked into “Artesian Builds”, including the YouTube channel “Gamers Nexus” (via youtube) and the YouTuber “Onepeg” (via youtube).
Gamers Nexus wrote an email to Noah Katz, which then circulated internally within the company, and many employees privately sent him “information” about the state of the company.
Onepeg also received numerous internal messages that showed him how dire the situation of the company was. According to many employees, Katz apparently should never have been allowed to run such a company.
The incident with the Twitch streamer is not an isolated case, but a logical consequence of the CEO’s business practices.
These are the consequential seconds on Twitch:
The most important new information:
- In total, 40-50 employees should have become unemployed overnight.
- The head of the company, Noah Katz, lives above the office building in an apartment but has rarely been seen at work, appearing late in the day. Employees found it difficult to even contact him.
- Katz’s parents financed the company and hold their son in high regard, who works like crazy.
- Katz sought to place the blame for the mistake on others: a female employee supposedly made a mistake when selecting the streamers eligible for the giveaway.
- A moderator had live during the Twitch stream asked to be informed next time Katz goes live to change the rules.
- The company’s management, the CFO, and the COO have resigned in recent months – the positions are now vacant.
- The East Coast branch, where the majority of the PCs are manufactured, has also been dissolved – employees were fed up with Katz.
- The company had such a bad reputation with suppliers that they had to pay cash for every delivery. Hence, the end came so quickly; everything points to the fact that the company is insolvent.
- The employees’ paychecks have been blocked, and all company accounts are frozen while Katz works to resolve the issue.
- A PR statement could not yet be published because the “Katz family” could not agree on a text and rejected the first draft.
- One opportunity to present their position on a major YouTube channel with 1.26 million subscribers was missed by Katz.
- Even in communication with the YouTuber “Gamers Nexus”, Noah Katz made a serious mistake, as he initially shared confidential information, but later told the YouTuber he could not use it because it was confidential.
“The guy should be devastated”
How the YouTubers are reacting: Both YouTubers are utterly shocked. The more information they have about the situation, the worse the CEO comes across in the depiction of the employees. Apparently, many employees took the opportunity to vent their frustration about the CEO and their situation.
“Gamers Nexus” is upset that Katz wrote to him in an email about the layoffs, which surely makes the story even more interesting for the YouTuber:
“That’s the problem, exactly that. I’m responsible for two people, and that’s just my family, but we have a team that we have gone through a lot with. I just can’t imagine then writing ‘Oh, that gives you a better story’ – No! The right answer is: I completely messed it up and messed it up for 50 people. The guy should be devastated.”
Steve Burke, editor-in-chief Gamers Nexus
What happens now? This is currently unclear. One problem is that the company is in the hands of Noah Katz and his parents. There is no one who can intervene regulatorily:
- Employees have offered to buy the company and oust the CEO.
- Additionally, Twitch streamer Trainwreck said on Twitter that he wanted to take over the company and lead it “correctly” – how serious this is is hard to say.
But for the moment, this is a mess for everyone involved: The employees are unemployed for now. Those who still have open orders with the company are advised by the YouTube channel “Gamers Nexus” to urgently recall transferred funds.
If Trainwreck really buys the company, he apparently has enough resources available for it, at least at the moment:
Twitch streamer wins 12.7 million euros in a spin – Warns viewers: “Don’t ruin your life”
