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In the past few days, Quora, EBay, 23 and Me and TripAdvisor all announced layoffs. Coincidence or early sign of something bigger?

by city41 7y ago

Xcelerate 7y ago
I was wondering this as well.
rossdavidh 7y ago
My thoughts exactly. Two scenarios: - the WeWork IPO-that-wasn't has caused most VC's to decide that you really need to demonstrate profitability before you can IPO, which is when they get paid, so lots of companies are now doing layoffs instead of just getting more VC money - or, the economy (which hasn't had a real recession in a long time, since not even 2011 was quite a recession) is just due for a recession and tech startups are the canary telling us this is so
- aguyfromnb 7y ago
  >the WeWork IPO-that-wasn't has caused most VC's to decide that you really need to demonstrate profitability before you can IPO, That's a polite way to put it. I'd say the WeWork IPO-that-wasn't was the public saying don't foist your shit on us. How many VC bagholders are now sitting on "billions of dollars" in meaningless paper gains based on nothing but SoftBank's and others nonsense valuations?
- hilbertseries 7y ago
  > Quora, EBay, 23 and Me and TripAdvisor Ebay and TripAdvisor are public companies.
damq 7y ago
I'd be curious to know if there's any organization that tracks layoff rate over time. It seems like the US Bureau of Labor Statistics used to do it, but Obama cut their funding [1]. [1] https://www.bls.gov/bls/sequester_info.htm https://www.bls.gov/bls/sequester_info.htm
Der_Einzige 7y ago
Don't forget Intel!
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  YC class of '68.
cpudestw2020 7y ago
Ehhh... EBay has probably been feeling at least some pinch for a while from Amazon creeping in on their B2C channels. When I used to work at a small retail shop, we boosted sales by selling on Ebay. Nowadays, I imagine it would be Amazon instead. 23 and Me is IMO a result of people NOT wanting their genetic data leaked/sold/etc. and the market reflecting that. Quora is like StackOverflow but with different drama and worse layout. Tripadvisor IMO is feeling the squeeze of AirB&B and it's ilk. Still -could- be a sign, but I don't think it's entirely unexpected.

In the past few days, Quora, EBay, 23 and Me and TripAdvisor all announced layoffs. Coincidence or early sign of something bigger?

by city41 7y ago

In the past few days, Quora, EBay, 23 and Me and TripAdvisor all announced layoffs. Coincidence or early sign of something bigger?

Xcelerate 7y ago

I was wondering this as well.

rossdavidh 7y ago

My thoughts exactly. Two scenarios: - the WeWork IPO-that-wasn't has caused most VC's to decide that you really need to demonstrate profitability before you can IPO, which is when they get paid, so lots of companies are now doing layoffs instead of just getting more VC money - or, the economy (which hasn't had a real recession in a long time, since not even 2011 was quite a recession) is just due for a recession and tech startups are the canary telling us this is so

aguyfromnb 7y ago
>the WeWork IPO-that-wasn't has caused most VC's to decide that you really need to demonstrate profitability before you can IPO, That's a polite way to put it. I'd say the WeWork IPO-that-wasn't was the public saying don't foist your shit on us. How many VC bagholders are now sitting on "billions of dollars" in meaningless paper gains based on nothing but SoftBank's and others nonsense valuations?
hilbertseries 7y ago
> Quora, EBay, 23 and Me and TripAdvisor Ebay and TripAdvisor are public companies.

damq 7y ago

I'd be curious to know if there's any organization that tracks layoff rate over time. It seems like the US Bureau of Labor Statistics used to do it, but Obama cut their funding [1]. [1] https://www.bls.gov/bls/sequester_info.htm https://www.bls.gov/bls/sequester_info.htm

Der_Einzige 7y ago

Don't forget Intel!

dredmorbius 7y ago
YC class of '68.

cpudestw2020 7y ago

Ehhh... EBay has probably been feeling at least some pinch for a while from Amazon creeping in on their B2C channels. When I used to work at a small retail shop, we boosted sales by selling on Ebay. Nowadays, I imagine it would be Amazon instead. 23 and Me is IMO a result of people NOT wanting their genetic data leaked/sold/etc. and the market reflecting that. Quora is like StackOverflow but with different drama and worse layout. Tripadvisor IMO is feeling the squeeze of AirB&B and it's ilk. Still -could- be a sign, but I don't think it's entirely unexpected.