I dislike the narrative of this piece. Snap isn’t collapsing, and no one “bailed.” Snap’s evolution of Snapchat has been in the works for some time, and the company has come to a point where they’re ready to start sharing. techcrunch.com/2017/11/09/tim…
Tim Sehn and Snap likely came to a point where resigning was best for both parties — the Android product was neglected, & a stronger team-builder would be required to re-org the Android group to redeem the product. He likely recruited his successor.
I also don’t think Evan has flip-flopped on influencers — if Snapchat would have been absorbed by fairy-tale content, it would be dead. As @basche42 says, they’re separating best-friends from the TV on the wall — the redesign is just enabling the two to live together thoughtfully
If Snap would have prioritized creators previously, their best-friend engagement would have dropped & they couldn’t have normalized Snap Maps & Context — they’re reintroducing creators in the divergence users understand: Shows & Our Story curation vs Best Friend Messaging
Nor is Snapchat suddenly going to undergo a massive Newsfeed overhaul — close-friend messaging will largely be unaffected, and content will just be bubbled out of Search & Discover in a way that would be easier to explore. You don’t need a Newsfeed when you have <25 friends. 
We’re not seeing a sinking ship casting nets out of desperation — were seeing a product naturally progress and a CEO defending this progression in language that investors can understand.
