Big Tech layoffs swept through the industry at an unprecedented rate last year, but recently-fired professionals are using this opportunity to find the good in the bad.ย
When Nic Szerman became part of Metaโs 13% job cut just two months after being hired, he wasted no time looking for his next career move. This came in the form of a block-chain payment firm called Nulik, which he almost immediately began seeking investment for.ย ย ย
โAs counterintuitive as it may sound, this layoff left me in a really good position,โ said Szerman. โBecause I donโt have to pay back the sign-on bonus, I get four months of pay, and now I have time to focus on my own project.โย
Szerman is just one of many recently-laid-off tech workers who are using this window of opportunity to start their own businesses, meaning Silicon Valley could be on the cusp of another startup wave. ย
While the move may be questionable due to low levels of venture capital financing last year, early-stage funding was found to be near record-levels.ย ย ย
Some venture capital firms are also making efforts to target these new startups. For instance, San Francisco-Based Day One Ventures created a new program for recently-fired tech professionals, with the slogan โFunded, not Fired.โย ย ย ย
โWeโre investing $2 million in 20 companies โ if we just find one unicorn it almost returns the fund, which I think is a really unique opportunity for us as fund managers,โ said Masha Bucher, co-founder of Day One Ventures.ย
