Keeley Blair CEO of OnlyFans Since July 2023, she says that if there’s one thing she can’t stand, it’s the “weak middle management” that often populates large companies. Speaking on the MEO stage at the Lisbon Web Summit on Thursday, she said she was actively refusing to hire middle managers.
Of course, Blair has the luxury of only 42 employees, so life without project managers and office administrators is a little easier than at her previous employers, which included a law firm Orrick and accounting giant PwC.
“We don’t have weak middle managers in our midst because, in my experience, no one has ever had really good middle managers,” Blair said. “So, for us, really, let’s get out of that model. Let’s stay lean. Let’s scale the team when we need projects,” using outside freelancers first before hiring full-time positions.
Blair said OnlyFans’ hiring has had a huge impact on the company’s operating expense leverage, as it generates $7 billion in gross revenue annually from 400 million users, and $1.41 billion in net revenue. Citing internal company metrics, Blair said wages per employee were about $37 million. Even adding one employee drops this average significantly.
Therefore, Blair only hires very senior people or very junior staff.
“Every hire counts”
“Every hire is very important. You have to make sure revenue keeps growing to make sure it matches that. For us, it’s a structural decision on how we run the business. So we hire incredible senior talent, and then we hire incredible junior talent, and we’re looking for attitude and ability as opposed to experience when we hire,” Blair told Scale Masters host Jeff Berman.
“So, for us, actually, let’s get out of that (middle management) model. Let’s stay lean. Let’s scale the team when the project requires it.”
Finding a job at OnlyFans is difficult, to say the least. Blair doesn’t hire people who just want a job or think OnlyFans would be fun.
“It’s really important to me to know that the people I’m considering hiring (because we only have 42 full-time employees) truly believe in our mission and can articulate the mission to me and understand why they want to work here, not just because it’s a cool place and we have great merchandise, but because they believe in what we’re doing and they understand our story.”