The article explains the startup layoff of TechCrunch.
All the guys following TechCrunch can definitely realise a sudden rise in posts reporting laying offs,startup shutdowns,financial crisis,founder give-ups and similar stuff in the month of October…
Starting from a post reporting eBay’s layoff(1500 employees) on Oct 3 and continuing till now(7 layoff reported on a single day,Oct 17),this trend is not looking to end so soon.TC has even created a Layoff Tracker(to keep an account of all such layoffs)
This situation(may be called bubble 2.0 climax) reminds me of dot com bubble when cluster of dot-coms went bankrupt and laying off some staff members used to be one of the ways to cut costs and prolong the survival period of startups.
That time F**kedCompany played the role of a “reporter” to doomed/troubled dot-coms and this time,TechCrunch is looking to play the ‘lead role’ in reporting crippled state of tech/IT world.
The only difference lies in the approach…
F**kedCompany used to mock at burnt dot-coms and TechCrunch has(mostly) a neutral and factual approach towards this ‘troubled phase’.
Here is a list of all such layoffs that were reported on TechCrunch in the month of October(layoff tracker has even more layoffs listed on it which belong to some other source)…
………………………………………….
October 3, 2008
As eBay preps layoffs, startup investment crashes – it’s going to be a cold winter people
October 10, 2008
Getting The UnParty Started: Seesmic Lays Off 1/3 Of Staff
October 14, 2008
Jive Software Lays Off 1/3 Of Staff
October 16, 2008
Adbrite Lays Off 40% Of Staff, Including Two Execs
October 16, 2008
No Hi5’s Today. No. 3 Social Network Lays Off 10 to 15 Percent Of Staff
October 16, 2008
Adult Startup Zivity Cuts 1/3 Of Staff
October 17, 2008
More Layoffs: Pandora Cuts 14 Percent of Its Staff
October 17, 2008
25% Layoffs At Seattle’s Zillow
October 17, 2008
13 Employees Laid Off At VoIP Startup Jaxtr
………………………………………….
Conclusion
“It seems the situation will go even worse and the decision of startups/companies to shed some load off their shoulders appears as the only solution to effectively decrease the running costs.Hope market revives soon“
