I was working at a Start-up more than a year back. We were required to either raise funds or do something else, against what we wanted to do, to move forward.
One day, the co founders got us on a call (<10 people team), and explained the situation to us.
Either an acquisition or a round of funding was the only chance. We hadn't raised any round up until then.
Unfortunately, we had to bid goodbye to something that we were passionately working on.
Lay-offs!
But, we got 2 months notice. And on top of that, we were encouraged to prepare for interviews throughout those 2 months (while giving minimal importance to work).
I literally cried multiple times because of the thought of having to leave the amazing team.
The founders helped us with all the support, and made use of their network to help us get through as well. We're still in touch with the team, and all of us are at relatively good positions now.
(Although anonymous, just wanted to share this out there with all of you folks. And I try to 'help it forward' as much as possible)