Whatnot requires staff to buy, sell and handle support on its app

5 articles · Updated · Inc. · May 4

Chief executive Grant LaFontaine said all 1,000-plus full-time employees must answer support tickets each quarter and use the live shopping platform as part of performance reviews.
The company gives workers $150 in credits for purchases and allows required buying and selling during work hours, with employees unable to meet expectations if they skip the tasks.
Founded in 2019, Whatnot says the policy embeds customer perspective from hiring onward, asking candidates about app use in a stricter version of corporate "dogfooding".

Why does Whatnot's mandatory product use succeed where corporate AI mandates are failing?

Is forcing employees to be customers a brilliant culture hack or a path to employee burnout?