Enterprise Weekly #407: Tech Layoffs Continue, January Events, and More
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
January is already shaking out to be a difficult month for tech as both Amazon and Salesforce reported job cuts this week.
Amazon cut more than 18,000 jobs across mostly HR and Stores, representing 6% of their workforce. This is the highest number of people to be let go by a tech company in the past few months. Meanwhile, Salesforce reported around 8,000 jobs cut, representing 10% of their workforce. Both companies struggled from a well-known fate in the tech world — they overhired during the 2021 boom and cuts are necessary in the face of slowing growth. Interestingly enough, while Amazon saw a dip in revenue per employee, Salesforce saw their revenue per employee actually climb, indicating a preemptive layoff in advance of slowing top-line growth.
Seeing two of the most mature tech companies layoff thousands of workers signals that 2022’s tech correction isn't over yet. Efficiency and cash preservation will continue to be top of mind for leaders everywhere.
On the security front, CircleCI, the de facto platform that engineering teams use to make and manage changes to their code, issued a warning to users to “rotate any and all secrets” stored following a breach. While the full scope of this breach is still unclear, it could potentially have a huge impact on users if attackers gain access to companies' source code with the ability to steal or alter it. Stay tuned for updates.
Meanwhile, we’re kicking off 2023 with a packed schedule for enterprise founders, operators, and more:
Future Founders Dinners: We’re hosting a Future Founders Dinner every month for NYC enterprise enthusiasts. If you’re thinking about founding a company (or very recently have) and are interested in joining peers navigating the same journey - reach out.
Sales Masterclass on Leveling Up Your Discovery & Demo Calls: On Tuesday, January 24th, Work-Bench Sales Advisor Kiran Narsu will be sharing his top tactics to master value-based selling and dramatically improve sales conversations - RSVP to this virtual session.
Womenterprise Summit: After the success of our 2018 summit, we’re hosting our next Womenterprise Summit this April in NYC. If you’re passionate about helping this community and would like to join as a financial partner - reach out for more info.
📚 Read more news:
Crunchbase: Startup M&A Could Pick Up In 2023 As Fundraising Tightens Further
Business Insider: OpenAI In Talks For Tender Offer At $29B
Forbes: CIO Insights: Work-Bench VC Jonathan Lehr And Team On Enterprise Tech Trends To Watch
Fortune: The Crystal Ball: VCs, PE Investors, and Tech Founders Predict M&A Activity For 2023
WSJ: Venture Firms’ Strategy of Holding Stocks for Longer Backfires During Market Rout
📚 More to follow:
Company: Spring Health
Role: Business Development Representative (Hybrid)
Technology: Mental Healthcare
Funding: $300M from Work-Bench, Northzone, Rethink, Kinnevik, Tiger Global
🌟 Company of the Week 🌟
Chaos Genius raises $3.3M led by Elevation Capital and Y Combinator
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Founders: Preeti Shrimal (CEO), Harshit Surana (CTO)
Poly raises $4M led by Felicis, Bloomberg Beta, and NextView Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • San Francisco, CA
SurrealDB raises $6M led by FirstMark
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • London, UK
Opensee raises $11.7M led by Omnes Capital
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Paris, France
Perfect raises $13M led by Target Global
HR Tech • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
Product Science raises $18M led by Slow Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A • Los Angeles, CA
SirionLabs raises $25M led by Brookfield Growth
Future of Work • Series D • Bellevue, WA
User Interviews raises $27.5M led by Sageview Capital
Future of Work • Series B • Remote
CyberCube raises $50M led by Morgan Stanley
Risk / Security • Series C • San Francisco, CA
Gladly raises $55M led by Greylock, GGV, NEA and Others
Future of Work • Venture • San Francisco, CA
Netskope raises $401M led by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value
Risk / Security • Convertible Note • Santa Clara, CA