How the same mistake led to thousands of layoffs across the Tech industry
Hello, and Happy Friday. This is Matt Weinberger, Insider's deputy editor of tech analysis, filling in for Jordan Erb for the next week. By way of introduction: I just took this new role after a long stint leading our newsroom's cloud computing coverage; I'm level 39 in Pokémon Go; and my BTS biases are RM and Jin.
Today marks the end of a week that will live in infamy for the tech industry, as we reckon with the fallout of a string of brutal layoffs — with many fearing that the worst is yet to come.
The dust from Meta's layoffs continues to settle, with even those employees who remain confused and upset. And speaking of "confused and upset," Elon Musk made his first direct remarks to the employees of Twitter on Thursday, acknowledging that bankruptcy is a real possibility for the company.
Let's get into the tech news of the day.
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1. Tech CEOs all made the same dumb mistake, and it's cost thousands of jobs. Mark Zuckerberg and other top tech leaders all overhired through the pandemic, under the belief that the good times would last forever. But when the global economy stalled out, they had to quickly make cuts to adjust.
- It's good that these CEOs are taking responsibility for the mistake, but it's hard to believe that they didn't see that the boom was coming to an end far sooner. Companies like Zoom and Roblox have been showing softness over the last year or so as life returns to (relative) normalcy.
- At the same time, it's easy to understand why these prominent tech leaders decided to strike while the iron was hot. The early days of the pandemic were predicted to be a crisis for the tech industry; instead it led to some of the fattest times in Silicon Valley in recent memory.
- Ultimately, when tech CEOs get it wrong, it's employees who pay the price.
Read more about where the buck stops in tech here.
In other news
3. Even Meta employees aren't sure what just happened. Meta insiders say they have little to no visibility into who, exactly, got let go in the culling of 11,000 jobs. That's left some inside the company shell-shocked and angry as they figure out where to go from here.
4. Amazon unveiled a new warehouse robot — and it's making some workers worried. The robot, called Sparrow, is capable of handling around 65% of the products sold on Amazon's website before they are packaged. However, some warehouse workers are concerned the robot's capabilities could leave them without work.
5. Sequoia takes a $213 million bath on FTX. The implosion of FTX saw Sequoia, the legendary venture capital firm, write down the value of its $213 million investment in the crypto exchange down to $0. Insider's Melia Russell reports that's not actually that bad — depending on how you look at it.
6. TikTok might be getting into voice shopping. Shopping on social media is the wave of the future; just ask Elon Musk. A trademark filing spotted by Insider's Dan Whately hints that TikTok could let you buy the latest trending gadgetry or clothing just by speaking your desires aloud.
7. A new class of coaching at Y Combinator. While the world focuses on the doom and gloom in Big Tech, famed startup accelerator program Y Combinator is preparing for its winter cohort of smaller companies with big dreams. We have the complete guide to the group partners and advisors that will coach the next generation of Y Combinator startups.
8. A startup is reviving the classic 1967 Mustang as a brand-new, $450,000 electric sports car. The '67 by Charge Cars is an electrified take on the 1960s Ford Mustang Fastback. Despite its vintage looks, the '67 is very much a modern EV with four motors and 536 horsepower. Take a look here.
Odds and ends:
9. What's better than one blue checkmark? Two blue checkmarks. Tumblr, the perpetual underdog in the social media space, is having some fun at Twitter's expense. For a one-time fee of $8 — just as much as a monthly Twitter Blue subscription under Musk — Tumblr will sell you not one, but two completely useless blue checkmarks.
10. Cool your jets, or at least your iPhone. Is your iPhone getting too hot from constantly checking on the latest drama from inside Meta, Twitter, or FTX? Check out Insider's complete guide to cooling down your Apple device in a jiffy.
The latest people moves in tech:
- A wave of executives continue to leave Twitter, most recently including chief information security officer Lea Kissner and trust and safety chief Yoel Roth.
Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Matt Weinberger in San Francisco. (Feedback or tips? Email mweinberger@insider.com or tweet @gamoid.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.