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TikTok aims to rival the ad revenue of digital titans such as Meta Platforms, but a new report from my colleague Sylvia shows that turbulence within the short-form video app’s ad sales department threatens to throw it off course.
That turbulence includes a high-pressure culture that has resulted in heavy turnover. Since top-down instruction still comes from Beijing, employees are confused about how leaders decide on revenue targets, according to current and former employees. At the same time, their training plays down the China connection—for instance, salespeople emphasize to advertisers that TikTok’s data is stored in Singapore and the U.S., and that the company is still a startup figuring things out, the report notes.
