Hopeful about 2024?

Let's ignore what's wrong with startups, keep this an optimistic thread. Which startups make you excited about their future? The ones that have cracked product, GTM, model, or something else. Name the best Indian startups :)

As we bid farewell to the challenges of the past, let's delve into why 2024 is poised to be a game-changer for the Indian Startups! 🚀 In 2020, the world weathered the storm of COVID, followed by unprecedented quantitative easing. We then saw that in 2021 the bull run came soaring. Investors, fueled by the appetite for riskier assets led to a funding boom for startups as salaries soared. Fast forward to 2022, and the music is about to stop. The realization that the Fed would hike rates to curb inflation means that funding is about to dry up as big money will be invested away into debt/T-Bills. Though demand remained robust, the stock market felt the impact as JPow raised the interest rates. Late 2022 and 2023 saw the tech landscape experiencing layoffs, and startups facing significant headwinds. It’s a wonder if anyone raised this year. But here's the twist—2024 looks brighter. The stock markets have rebounded to all-time highs, signaling that things may be on the rise. Despite geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Iraq, the macro outlook for India shines bright. For Indian Startups? VC Funding is still here to stay. So keep your heads down and keep building. From what I am hearing, it is set to make a roaring comeback. There is now significant rationality in the funding ecosystem leading to realistic valuations. However, this revival will come with a plot twist. Newer companies, fueled by fresh funding, are set to rise, while most of the lofty valuations of those who raised in 2021 are about to crash and burn. So buckle up folks. Let’s see where it takes us. What do you think? 🤔

Startup ecosystem seems to be going through a tough time recently. with less money infused in the market, and all the big player laying off employees, companies stooping so low in the name of cutting down the cost and news about some companies treating their employees like shit. Still my optimistic ass believes that it can’t all be that bad, right? and things might get better. Here’s my question to the community, what are some companies you would like to work for and why(apart from money 😉)?

My contract was terminated last month citing restructuring. Honestly, I saw it coming but wasn't expecting it would hit like this I tried keeping my mind distracted, but now it has started to sink I live with parents and they aren't saying anything (they were feeding me before and still are, no change for them) I have had thoughts of ending all this, but do not have the courage. What if it ends halfway and I am redundant my whole life? Credit card bills are coming through now and being 42% of my ex-salary wasn't something I was prepared for. I thought I was a sane spender.

With AI improving we see it is quite capable of writing decent codes, how can someone new to tech decide on what to pick up? Frontend or Backend or both. Nowadays they say Full stack developers are in demand but shouldn't one be good at at least one thing and have knowledge about other things? How to prioritise what to learn. There are just so many things that I'm a bit confused as to what to learn and focus on. I'd like to seek advice from a future perspective, and any predictions on how the tech industry might shape up.

I was laid off on 7th Sep and my garden leave was till 29th Sep. I got average severance package and I was in panic situation for almost 2 weeks. I gave interviews for 12 targeted position (luckily got till last rounds for all positions and got total 5 offers. 2 offers felt like being exploited, employers were milking my layoff situation and offered 10%-15%. I took a call to reject them and explore further. Got 3 offers in first week of Jan, these were worth considering. Yes I did wait for 4 months to see such favourable offers. One with 15% hile and relocation, second with 60k Euro and move to Europe and third offer with 100% hike with remote. It was a no brainer and I closed on the one with Remote and 100% hike. Dont just rush to close on anything which comes first, assess the future and close on the decent or best one according to ur needs. For those who were laid-off recently and looking for opportunities I would say keep faith market is opening and positions are getting listed. You will get something good soon.

Just wanted to do a quick dip-stick from the people in this good community. In my network of friends' (companies), I'm starting to sense renewed optimism around business growth, funding environment and therefore jobs. I also feel there is more pessimism in larger companies versus smaller upstarts Are you guys seeing/ sensing the same as well?

While there are lot of VCs coming out with their ‘expert’ outlook on 2024, let’s be real to share our own predictions. Idea is to share and learn and not just mudsling. Let me go first with few of my own 1. Neobanking will go belly up - it’s really hard to make money in just Savings account led neobanking I believe. With lending increasingly difficult, I think we will see likes of Jupiter going belly up 2. Gold mine of climate tech - climate tech will become more mainstream stream (similar to content and community in 2021, D2C in 2022 and SaaS in 2023) What are yours?