Tech’s Next Best Mafia? Dismissed talent • TechCrunch

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Welcome to Startups Weekly, this week’s spotlight on startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and co-host of Equity Natasha Maskerenhas To receive this in your inbox, subscribe over here.

After the large-scale talent exodus in tech, we’re starting to see laid-off talent start-up companies with a purpose and a sense of purpose. I’m talking about the legal analyst who started at Better.com, a legal tech startup, or Twitter’s head of security who started a Twitter competitor with the main security. It’s refreshing, and tangible.

Is it something in the water? Is it a breeding ground for a certain set of companies? Is it easy to start a company these days? Unfortunately, in It’s hard to know exactly what the real risk of a rebound in 2023 is. Maybe 2022 is over – or maybe the great reboot of technology has reminded some that it’s time to take the leap, because nothing can be taken for granted. .

It’s important to note that only certain people can afford to take this risk, especially after accidentally losing the safety net from an employer’s contract. In a previous piece, I looked at how some tech workers respond to risk by being more wary of potential employers, holding down two jobs, being otherwise overworked, or adjusting their personal finance mindset.

They may be a small group who can afford to jump into construction, but oh, they have stories to tell. Read my recent piece in TC+ that explored this spiraling trend: Tech layoffs are creating a new era of trashy (and humiliated) founders.

If you still want to read more about how the job market works, I have two more! Read this latest from Ron Miller, which gives us some much-needed hope on why the tech job market may not be as volatile as we thought. You can find a list of all the 2023 resignations collected by our SEO Champion, Alyssa Stringer, on this list.

In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about a new podcast, fundraising honesty, and some surprising trends at one of tech’s biggest startups. As always, you can follow me Twitter Or Instagram to continue the conversation. I’m also writing on my personal blog, if you want to keep up with the 1,821 other very articulate people who come to upload.

Internal launch battlefield

Ready for a newsletter for your ears, anyone? The TechCrunch Podcast Network has a new podcast — and it’s taking you inside one of the most anticipated startup competitions in the world: Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Here’s why it’s important: The four-part series will delve into the entire process behind the contest, from application to winner, and I’m looking forward to the next installment (even though I’ll literally be in the front row as it all unfolds). A must-listen for prospective applicants, curious VCs, and anyone who cares about the myth behind early-stage startups.

Listen to the first episode here, or wherever you find podcasts.

“You can raise money forever.”

I spoke with Helen Minn Mena Harris, niece of Phenomenal Media founder and vice president Kamala Harris and former chief marketing officer of Angelist, Plaid and other high-tech companies. They partnered with top tier investors to launch Phenomenal Ventures, which closed a $6 million seed round to support enterprise SaaS, fintech and future business companies.

Here’s why it’s important: We got the sincerity that VCs are filling my DMs. The round-the-clock fundraising process for Phenomenal Ventures’ fund took around a year. “I’m very clear about this and I wish there were more people; we set out to raise a large fund,” she said, adding that they closed the first half of the fund in the first three weeks of fundraising.

Eventually, due to the market’s slowdown and the LP’s cooling, Harris and Min decided to stop fundraising after the first close. “There’s a real trade-off between the time we spend on fundraising and the time we can spend on deal flow and meeting with founders and helping our portfolio companies, so we decided to call it that,” Min added.

follow up

In her last episode, TC’s Sarah Perez “Was it a Twitter exodus or Twitter hiatus?” he asks. She examines how Twitter’s alternatives have been performing since Elon Musk took over Twitter, which led to both an exodus and an increase in clones.

Here’s why it’s important: In her words, “The data indicates that many apps continue to grow to a small degree, while other apps have seen a decline in growth. But Twitter itself has not had a significant impact, at least in terms of new app installs. But there is more; She also explores how Twitter usage has been affected by the heavy, critical yet loud, press, and how Reddit and Discord fit into the conversation.

etc. etc.

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Discuss next week,

N