Hey Siri, when does a “macroeconomic downturn” become a “recession”?
It’s another bleak week for startups weathering dismal tech stocks and even worse cryptocurrency prices. But let’s start with some good news: your children can get vaccinated against COVID-19!
Back to the bad news: We’re writing another weekly layoffs column, because once again, there’s been enough bad news this week that it’s necessary to round it all up.
This week, startups in crypto and real estate fared particularly badly — naturally, as mortgage interest rates rise, fewer people want to buy homes. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is nearing dangerously close to the $20,000 mark, a serious plunge from the $60,000+ prices we saw just seven months ago (I have been told on Twitter that #ItsNotAllAboutPrices).
Unfortunately, this week’s layoffs spanned beyond just those two fields, with consumer tech, fintech and food delivery impacted as well.
Let’s start with real estate
Our own Mary Ann Azevedo has been tracking the real estate tech sector, reporting on Tuesday that publicly traded real estate brokerage platforms Redfin and Compass laid off a combined 900 employees.
“I said we wouldn’t lay off people unless we …
