The Muse “Acquired” & Indeed Hits All Agencies

September 26, 2025
New JobBoard Doctor
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Happy Friday Job Board Doctor Friends

It’s been an odd week in our little corner of the world. A mix of gossip, silence, and questionable power plays. Here’s what I’ve got on tap for you today:

Drama at The Muse
Agencies bowing to Indeed

Let’s dig in.

The Muse is A mess

This week, all signs suggest that The Muse may be the next player in our space to stumble. And, because it’s 2025, most of the drama is playing out where else? LinkedIn.

Clue number one: The Muse hasn’t posted on their own LinkedIn account for six months. Six months.

Clue number two: Richard Dilman, Senior Director of Engineering, posted that the company had been acquired—and oh, by the way, the engineering team was let go as part of the transition. Casual bombshell.

Acquired? By whom?

You’d expect at least a splashy press release, a blog post, some spin about “strategic alignment.” Instead? Nothing. TheMuse.com is as quiet as a graveyard at midnight.

Then comes clue number three. Dave Bethony, listed on The Muse.com as COO/CFO but on LinkedIn as President, announced he’s stepping down as CEO of both The Muse and FairyGodBoss.

His post mentions the company “transitioned to a new investor group this week.” Investor group? Which one? Silence again.

And finally, the cherry on top: Steven Rothberg, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, never one to let a good thread go untouched, jumps in on Bethony’s post asking when College Recruiter is going to get paid for months of overdue invoices. Ouchie.

So what do we know? New owners. No engineering team. Leadership walking away. No public statement. Unpaid vendors.

It has all the markings of another “investor dismantle” play – Apollo, anyone?

The open questions:

Who’s actually behind this “new investor group”?
Who’s going to step in as CEO?
What happens to The Muse’s other properties (FairyGodBoss included)?
Who else is left holding the IOUs?

I’ve reached out to The Muse for comment. If they respond, you know I’ll update you.

Side Note:

Based on what I have seen on LinkedIn, The Muse definitely lost some incredible engineering talent this week, including Richard. I know some of you are hiring, don’t miss your shot.

Agencies Capitulate to Indeed

Now, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite monopolistic overlord: Indeed.

Last week I told you about their latest move, slashing commissions for mid-tier recruitment marketing agencies from 15% to 10%, with the opportunity (such a generous word) to earn the old rate if they agree to force their clients onto Indeed Apply and the Disposition API.

That “opportunity” looks more like a collar and leash.

This week, the story grows. Agencies are telling me, off the record, because God forbid anyone stand up publicly, that smaller agencies anticipate being told they will receive ZERO commission for revenue they drive to Indeed, and all agencies, regardless of size, should expect a haircut on their rates.

Let’s pause.

A handful of billion-dollar platforms already control most of the digital recruiting market. Agencies, who were supposed to be the counterweight by helping clients navigate multiple channels and strategies, are being reduced to middlemen with shrinking margins.

And what are they doing? Whispering in back channels while bowing their heads.

Where’s the Recruitment Ad Agency Association (RAA) in all this? Founded over 20 years ago “to unite recruitment advertising agencies worldwide and advance the profession.”

Here we are, in the middle of an industry-shaping squeeze play, and the silence is deafening.

If you’re quiet while Indeed rewrites the rules of the industry, what does that tell us? Maybe the biggest RAA members smell blood in the water and see cheap acquisition opportunities as smaller agencies collapse.

Maybe they’re just afraid. Maybe both.

Either way, silence in the face of monopoly power isn’t neutrality. It’s complicity.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: if we don’t start collectively pushing back, Indeed wins. They get to decide which platforms live, which agencies survive, which technologies get adopted, and which voices matter.

If you’re an agency, ask yourself: are you really okay with taking crumbs while handing over client data, strategy, and autonomy to a single platform?

If you’re a job board, look at The Muse. One quiet investor deal, and poof—the future of a once-respected brand is now up in the air. Could that be you next?

If you’re a vendor, how long can you keep waiting for overdue invoices before you start calling this what it is: an industry failure of accountability?

We’ve all seen what happens when monopolies run unchecked. Innovation slows. Service quality drops. Pricing power shifts. And the little guys, the ones who actually bring creativity and competition, get crushed.

So maybe it’s time we stop wringing our hands in private Slack groups and start calling things out. Publicly. Loudly. Repeatedly. Because the more silence we allow, the faster the monopolists consolidate power.

Job Board Doctor friends: don’t just read this and nod.