Artesian Builds is a company that makes custom gaming PCs. The company’s CEO, Noah Katz, changed the rules for a sweepstakes in a live stream and excluded a Twitch streamer from the prize. This triggered a catastrophic response and the company had to close. But in the episode it becomes clear: The story is much worse.
What exactly happened there?
- The head of the company “Artesian Builds”, Noah Katz, gave away a gaming PC live on Twitch in early March, which a small Twitch streamer won. But Katz felt the winner was too insignificant and hadn’t yet generated sales as a brand ambassador, so he ruled her out. His tone was triumphant.
- The streamer was outraged by the treatment on Twitter, she felt and her stream “made small” and defamed. The complaint exploded on social media: there was a shitstorm against “Artesian Builds”, sponsors jumped off, partners distanced themselves from the company.
- On March 9, the company announced that it was going out of business. You now want to seek help from outside and then start again.
Tech YouTuber mocks Twitch star’s PC setup in front of 1.3 million people
Fired employees feed YouTubers a lot of embarrassing internals
Why is the story getting weirder? In the wake of the scandal, some YouTubers have dabbled in “Artesian Builds,” including YouTube channel Gamers Nexus (via youtube) and YouTuber Onepeg (via youtube).
Gamers Nexus wrote an e-mail to Noah Katz, which was then circulated internally in the company and to which many employees privately sent him “information” on how the company was doing.
The most important new information:
- A total of 40-50 employees are said to have become unemployed overnight
- The head of the company, Noah Katz, lives above the office building in an apartment, but has only appeared at work relatively rarely and only late in the day. Employees found it difficult to even contact him
- Katz’s parents financed the company and think highly of their son, who works like crazy
- Katz found others to blame for the error: An employee would have made a mistake when selecting the streamers that are permitted for the competition
- A moderator had asked live during the Twitch streamer to inform her next time Katz changes the rules live on air
- The company’s management, the head of finance and the head of operations, have resigned in recent months – the positions are still open
- The East Coast branch, where the majority of the PCs are manufactured, was also dissolved – the employees had had enough of Katz
- The company had such a bad reputation with suppliers that they had to pay cash for every delivery. That’s why the end came so quickly, everything indicated that the company was insolvent
- Employees have had their paychecks blocked and all company accounts frozen while Katz works to resolve the issue
- A PR statement has not yet been published because the “Katz family” could not agree on any text and rejected a first draft
- Katz missed an opportunity to present his own position on a large YouTube channel with 1.26 million subscribers
- Even when communicating with YouTuber Gamers Nexus, Noah Katz made a serious mistake, first sharing confidential information but later telling the YouTuber he couldn’t use it because it was confidential
“The guy should be devastated”
This is how the YouTubers react: Both YouTubers are completely stunned the more information they have about the situation. Apparently, many employees used her request to get rid of their frustration about the CEO and their situation.
“Gamers Nexus” is upset that Katz writes him in an email about the dismissal of the employees, which makes the story even more interesting for the YouTuber:
“That’s the problem, that’s exactly it. I’m responsible for two people and that’s just my family, but we have a team that we’ve been through a lot with. I just can’t imagine then writing “Oh, that makes you a better story” – No! The correct answer is: I totally messed it up and screwed up 50 people. The guy should be devastated.”
Steve Burke, Editor-in-Chief Gamers Nexus
What’s next? That is unclear at the moment. One problem is that the company is owned by Noah Katz and his parents. There is no one who can intervene regulatively:
- Employees have offered to buy the company and boot out the CEO
- Also, Twitch streamer Trainwreck has said on Twitter that he wants to take over the company and run it “properly” — it’s hard to say how serious that is
But for the moment it’s a mess for everyone involved: The employees are unemployed for the time being. The YouTube channel “Gamers Nexus” recommends that anyone who still has open orders with the company urgently book back the money transferred.
