Top indicators that startup is failing

First, they had a layoff. Lot of good people quit including great people Then, they had a second lay off Some great people in the leadership quit. Middle management people are quitting every day. Only engineers and other people who are not able to get jobs are remaining They shut down majority of US acquisitions They are trying to sell some of them like Tynkr and Epic Not able to raise funding till now even though trying since December Sales is down 90% New Inside Sales process is not working They are out of runway.

Hey everyone, when do you think is a good time to move on from a startup and start looking out for a new role ? To give you a background, I have been part of this startup in a sales closing role for more than 3+ years. Being a Hardware + software product, we had a rough time in the initial years but clocked close to a 1 Million USD in orders booked with good contributions from my side. However, past few months, the mood across board is very gloomy with • Layoffs happening every month , • Competition moving ahead of us in a rapid pace, • We are more or less absent from most of the tradeshows. Being a Hardware product driven through trade channels like distributors, being present at these shows is paramount. So no inbound leads • Marketing function being reduced to single person responsible to just post on LinkedIn and website maintenance, • No clear direction from the founders on the way forward, completing the remaining product items or contributing to sales • A feeling across board that everyone including the senior management is just looking at saving their jobs • Last hike in Jan 2022. In Jan 2023 we did not have any hike but we were promised a percentage of orders booked if we reach BEP. we are still way short of BEP How do you think should I evaluate the whole situation ? Is it time to look out aggressively for a new job ?

Let's gooooo

Rebel foods Pvt Ltd (formerly faasos), which became unicorn has done layoffs in tech and product. ( We have no idea about kitchen staff layoffs) The number of people let go forms a considerable % of the total strength Beware of joining such startups! They will surely name this as "performance" based removal, but what do you have to say for firing freshers you hired not even 6 months ago?

1. Fancy talks from founders such as ownership, independence, building for next generation, speed etc 2. Learn new tech 3. Glofiying working at odd hours 4. Don't talk about stress and anxiety Start ups are not for weak heart and normal humans who have life after work. It's only for people who will give up their life to build somone else dream. Prove me wrong. An ex ola person cried infront of me for the workplace stress and unrealistic push

-Online brands are expanding offline to achieve scale -Late stage startups are gearing towards profitability earlier than planned -Biz models built on behavior during Covid are struggling (like edtech) -Startups which got funded due to TikTok ban are struggling -Finfluencers are soon expected to struggle -Credit Fintech w/o NBFC license is a struggle -Very few consumer content startups frm India are seeing scale and profitability -RMG is struggling due to regulations -India focused creator economy startups finding it difficult to scale -PLG led Indian SaaS startups not able to cross $20M ARR -Some VCs finding it tough to raise without DPI -Public markets thrashing innovative/vanity metrics of pvt VC funded cos. and their pvt market valuations -Series B and beyond is tough, down round/flat round is now common - Deals happening at single digit ARR multiple for SaaS valuations - Web3 startups not getting funded - Most GenAI startups not able to build any defensibility - Most B2B Commerce startups are not able to increase gross margins or reduce NWC - CACs are ever increasing - Compliance issues at many startups - Layoffs to continue - startups which got funded in 2021, will soon be out of runway - no liquidity event for vested ESOPs in most Indian startups - secondaries happening at 35% discount in some cases - deal closure times have become 2x - less FOMO amongst VCs - More instances of M&A falling through

Team is less than 10 people still, slowly growing. Net profit could be higher, that's top priority to work on now. Total cash invested by founders was 15L over 3-4 years. Yearly revenue : 2019 - less than 30k 20 - 1.5L (after pivot) 22 - 50L Getting to the first lakh and then to 10 lakhs was probably the most challenging part. We thought of shutting down multiple times, struggled through multiple fights between founders. Glad we didn't stop working and pulled through. This is my 4th or 5th attempt at starting up. Except for 1, other attempts didn't even get to incorporation stage. Would love to hear from other bootstrappers and their experience.

Dunzo Taskmo Frontrow

There is big layoff 50% in reliance retail - jiomart B2B business. Reasons Very poor management, aggressive hiring, creating business that does not exist, downfall of business. Compensation - Asked people to resign & said to serve notice 90 days. No additional support or benefit.

"Healthtech startup implodes, axes 3/4 of workforce after lavish Series-C funding round! Upper management rewards themselves with director-level promotions, while loyal employees are left in the lurch. In a ruthless move, the company offers a two-month notice period but refuses to provide termination letters, forcing employees to quit and forfeit their rightful severance pay. The very same employees who contributed to the startup's success are now callously discarded, leaving many wondering if greed and betrayal are the new industry standards." Hint - it's amongst one of the biggest emr platform and says doctor first approach.