Week 19: Markets Tumble, Startups Downsize

Cash is king and if you have cash consider using it to hire the recently unemployed.

If you tuned into the news for even a few seconds last week you’re probably already aware that the financial markets, from Bitcoin to big banks, have taken a tumble recently.

What has been kept more hush-hush though is that startups and IPO’d tech companies alike have been quietly reducing their headcount through “reduction in force” layoffs.

Don’t Panic

As anyone who has read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy knows, the first step is not to panic.

Markets go up and down, economies expand and retract. Avoid the fear-mongering that feeds the news machine and instead focus on how this cycle impacts your hiring and business.

For founders

If you’re running a venture-backed startup you may want to shore up your cash position and think about what it will look like if you can’t raise that next round as soon as you expected.

For those still hiring

Warren Buffett once said that it is wise for investors to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful”. This also works when it comes to recruiting great folks. Utilize tools like the lay-off list above (you can find it here) to source tech-savvy candidates who are most likely actively looking for their next thing.

Who’s Hiring

• Irreverent Labs is hiring remote-first devs.

• Avra Talent (cough cough) is hiring fully remote Coordinators in LATAM.

• Fresh Health is hiring a variety of roles in the Bay Area (and has one of the best careers pages we’ve ever seen)!

• Even though crypto is down across the board, Coinbase is aggressively hiring for a variety of engineering and non-eng roles.

Funding the Future of Work

• WizeHire, a hiring service for small- and medium-sized (SMB) businesses, has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global, with participation from Amplo and Mercury. ~ more here

• HireLogic just closed a $4M seed round to improve the interview process.

• Estonian insurance technology startup Cachet, which offers insurance services to gig economy workers, has raised €5.5 million that the company plans to use to expand its services across Europe.

• Voxel, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI)-powered workplace safety company, has secured $15 million in new funding. The company uses computer vision and AI to identify hazards, risky behaviors, and operational inefficiencies across workplaces. ~ more here

Other News

If you were considering working at your favorite social media giant maybe think twice. The WSJ outlines TikTok’s brutal culture in a recent article that sites sleep deprivation and a workplace so toxic that several former employees sought therapy.

Sponsored by Avra Talent. For over 5-years Avra has been a trusted partner for venture-backed startups who need to hire fast. Learn more about how Avra can help you fill open roles while building a talent foundation that scales.