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Richard Drew/APRitesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Oyo.<ul class="summary-list"><li>SoftBank-backed Oyo fired 110 employees in the US citing their performance on April 1, Business Insider has confirmed. The company also put <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">thousands more employees</a> on paid leave to cut costs this week.</li><li>Some of those fired employees said they never had conversations about their performance with a manager before their sudden termination, leading them to question the reason.</li><li>Employees who currently or used to work at Oyo said sales had essentially become impossible amid the coronavirus and after negative articles damaged the company's reputation with hotels.</li><li>Oyo said the firings were based on performance in the first 90 days of their employment, and were unrelated to the recent furloughs.</li><li>People who were fired are being asked to sign separation agreements that will pay them severance if they agree not sue the company in a class-action lawsuit or speak publicly about their employment.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The former "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/softbank-backed-oyo-is-firing-thousands-across-china-and-india?sref=BWbpWjRm">jewel</a>" of SoftBank's startup portfolio has had another shakeup.One week before its reported furloughs, Oyo quietly fired 110 employees in the US, saying they were being terminated based on performance, Business Insider has confirmed. Employees said those people affected were not on performance improvement plans before their firing, which made them question the reason for their sudden removal."They were saying, 'This is not a layoff. You are being terminated for performance,'" said an employee who was fired over the phone on April 1.Oyo confirmed the firings in an email, saying that the reductions were based on employees' ability to close a sale in their first 90 days of employment, and were not related to the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">recent furloughs</a>.Still, people who currently or used to work at Oyo are arguing that the firings were part of a cost-cutting strategy as the startups rides out the coronavirus pandemic. The company's salesforce has struggled to make deals since before the outbreak because of its reputation in the hotel industry, multiple sources said. Some employees who were fired said they should have been laid off instead."Your sources seem unreliable as the details are incorrect," an Oyo spokesperson said in an email on Friday. "Specific to this instance, these terminations were performance-based, where sales team members, who generally had not made a single sale since December 9th of last year at least, including some who had not made a sale for more than 180 days, were impacted."Eight employees spoke to Business Insider on condition of anonymity because some signed nondisclosure agreements, and others were not authorized to speak publicly on Oyo.They said that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-oyo-layoffs-us-offices-2020-1">last round of layoffs</a> in the US, which Business Insider first reported in January, created a firestorm for Oyo. The startup sells to mostly independent motels and puts up money to redecorate and make sure the internet works, for a percentage on every reservation.The layoffs added to growing signs of trouble at Oyo, shaking its credibility with hotel owners and making it harder to close deals, according to some employees who were spared in January."It was a huge PR nightmare. They lost credibility with the owners," said one former employee. She said that any more news stories about "Oyo not being able to make it in America" would put the company out of business."They can't survive having another media story," said another source.OyoOyo gives independent hotel owners money for property improvements in exchange for a cut on every reservation made on Oyo's app.The Economic Times, a daily newspaper in India, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/oyo-gives-pink-slips-to-us-staff/articleshow/75038719.cms">first reported the firings</a> at Oyo on Thursday.<h2>Oyo is slashing costs</h2>The big <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">news out of Oyo</a> this week was that the budget hotel chain was placing thousands of employees on paid leave for at least two months. The goal, said Oyo's founder and chief executive Ritesh Agarwal in a video message, is to cut costs now so it can put people back to work after the travel industry recovers from the economic shutdown.Those employees on furlough will earn 15% of their salary before taxes and deductions, and receive health benefits, according to a document sent to current employees on Thursday, which was seen by Business Insider.In the video message, which has since been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1V3HE_2XOk&amp;feature=youtu.be">posted on YouTube</a>, Agarwal said the company would avoid layoffs."This situation of COVID-19 comes at a very unique time for Oyo. This is right after we had a sizable restructuring of our company in January of this year," Agarwal said. "Due to that, I want to clarify for all of you that we intend to do no or negligible layoffs as a part of cost restructuring across the world."Oyo's chief executive will also <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ritesh-agarwal-founder--group-ceo-oyo-to-forego-100-of-his-annual-salary-and-the-executive-leadership-team-to-take-voluntary-salary-cuts-301034128.html">not take a salary</a> for the rest of the year. Other executives are following suit, Oyo said.<h2>The coronavirus pandemic has made closing sales a struggle, some former employees said</h2>Based in India, Oyo has raised $3.1 billion in equity from SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures on the promise of rapid growth. After taking over <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-19/hotel-unicorn-oyo-plots-300-million-push-into-the-u-s-market">more than 23,000 properties</a> around the world, the company opened its first office in Texas in early 2019 with the goal of duplicating its success in the US. Oyo hired a salesforce of hundreds to bring US motels onto its platform."The rough idea was, if we signed 'X' amount of hotels with 150 sales people, let's quadruple the number of sales people and we'll quadruple the number of hotels, which was a spectacular failure," said a former employee who left the company earlier this year."I think they way over-committed to what they were capable of," he said.Some of the employees who were fired on April 1 were told that they had not made a sale in their first 60 days of employment, which was grounds for termination. Those workers did not contest what their supervisors said.The task was near-impossible, they said.Employees said that the startup had difficulty signing on hotels <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/oyo-layoffs-have-hotel-partners-worried/articleshow/73348921.cms?from=mdr">because of its reputation</a>. A business development manager would walk onto a property and ask to speak to an owner, who had one of two reactions, they said. "One was, 'Yeah, I know who Oyo is. Not interested. Get out.' Response two was, 'Who's Oyo?'" a current employee said.A hotel owner who searched Oyo on the internet would find "nothing but negative articles," including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/technology/oyo-softbank-india.html">a report in The New York Times detailing its questionable business practices</a>, said the employee, who is being furloughed.In India, some hotel owners said that after they spent money to renovate their rooms to match Oyo's branding, they never received reimbursements they had been promised, the Times reported.Adnan Abidi/ReutersA sign making disparaging remarks about Oyo is placed outside a hotel in New Delhi, India.The startup also changed the terms it could offer hotel owners because of the coronavirus pandemic's effect on its business, according to current and former employees. They said Oyo used to give $1,500 per room on average for improvements, and has since lowered its capital expenditure to $300 a room. Revenue has dropped 50% to 60% since the outbreak, according to the startup.In recent months, the company <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/oyo-suspends-payments-to-hotels-partners-say-clause-not-in-contract/74958727">also suspended payouts to hotels</a> if they do not reach a certain number of bookings, known as a minimum guarantee payment. Still, Oyo increased its percentage cut on room reservations by several points, employees said."Nothing as far as the value of what we were offering increased," said a former employee who was fired last week.In a written statement, Oyo said that the salespeople who were fired had not made a sale in their first 90 days of employment, not 60 days. Most of those individuals started around the winter holidays, before the first cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Wuhan, China. The virus wasn't <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-declares-coronavirus-pandemic-covid19-2020-3">declared a pandemic</a> until early March.Some people had not made a sale in six months, an Oyo spokesperson said. The decision to fire people was based on their performance even before the outbreak worsened, according to Oyo."Performance management actions are periodic actions," they said. "There is clear communication to the sales team about the expectation to sign their first deal within 60 days, and disciplinary actions, including termination, after 90 days."<h2>'The document they sent me was hush money,' an employee said</h2>Oyo fired mostly business development managers across 32 states and Washington, DC, according to a separation and release agreement that was obtained by Business Insider.Now, those employees are being asked to sign separation agreements that will pay them one to two weeks salary if they agree not sue the company in a class-action lawsuit or speak out against Oyo, according to multiple sources and a copy of one of the agreements viewed by Business Insider."The document they sent me was hush money," said one former Oyo employee, who said he was fired for not closing a sale in his first 60 days of employment.Oyo is not required to pay severance to employees who are fired for cause."The company, however, went out of its way to provide a modest severance package," an Oyo spokesperson said."Also, recognizing the difficult timing of this action, Oyo has ensured that employees who rely on its benefits plans will continue to have coverage in both April and May."The company said it will cover 100% of the insurance premiums in May.Do you work at Oyo and want to share your story? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (603) 913-3085 using a nonwork phone, email at mrussell@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @meliarobin.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.Get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus business &amp; economic impact analysis</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-could-be-fastest-way-end-coronavirus-crisis-2020-4">What could be the fastest way to end the coronavirus crisis?</a></h3>

Oyo, the former 'jewel' in SoftBank's startup portfolio, quietly fired 110 people based on their performance. Some fired workers say it was basically impossible to close sales, and the company is only offering severance if they agree to not speak out.

Washington, <keyword id="10305627" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sidney-powell">Sidney Powell</keyword>, the <keyword id="6356325" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lawyer">lawyer</keyword> who spearheaded outgoing US President <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword>'s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, has been sued for $1.3 billion by the <keyword id="10569060" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="American-Corporation">American corporation</keyword> that makes voting machines. In the defamation suit filed on Friday, the Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems chronicled some 40 of Powell's public statements that spread "wild" and "<keyword id="10569062" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonstrably-false">demonstrably false</keyword>" allegations, reports Xinhua news agency. The "viral disinformation campaign" that Powell mounted "to financially enrich herself, raise her public profile, and ingratiate herself to Donald Trump", deeply damaged the reputation and resale value of Dominion, the suit said. There are "mountains of direct evidence" disproving Powell's election fraud claims about the company's machines, that have resulted in "Dominion's founder, Dominion's employees, Georgia's governor, and Georgia's secretary of state" being harassed and receiving death threats," the 124-page lawsuit further said. Dominion CEO John Poulos also said in a statement that the lawsuit aimed to clear his company's name through a full airing of the facts about the 2020 election. Powell is best known for her defence of Enron Corp. executives Ken Lay and Tom Skilling, who bilked thousands of investors and employees out of around $60 billion in 2001, the New York Times reported in 2005. Lay left behind "a legacy of shame" characterized by "mismanagement and dishonesty", Bloomberg news said in a repor, and in 2009, Portfolio.com ranked Lay as the third-worst American CEO of all time. Powell, 65, now will be forced to defend her central role in the fantasy story that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Ironically, Dominion systems were also used in many counties that voted for Trump, and all of Powell's lawsuits involving the fraud claims have failed in court due to lack of evidence. For weeks, Powell claimed that Dominion was established with communist money in Venezuela to enable ballot-stuffing and other vote manipulation, and that those abilities were harnessed to rig the election for Joe Biden. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-delivers-yet-another-strong-quarter-with-16-growth-in-profit-as-covid-drives-tech-spending/articleshow/80173561.cms">TCS delivers yet another strong quarter with 16% growth in profit as COVID drives tech spending</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/dmart-the-nearly-two-trillion-dollar-indian-retailer-may-post-strong-earnings-watch-out-for-the-progress-on-e-commerce/articleshow/80172629.cms">DMart, the nearly two trillion dollar Indian retailer, may post strong earnings ⁠— watch out for the progress on e-commerce</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-bags-a-7-4-million-cheque-as-pandemic-forces-ritesh-agarwal-to-reimagine-the-business/articleshow/80170847.cms">OYO bags a $7.4 million cheque as pandemic forces Ritesh Agarwal to reimagine the business</a>

Donald Trump's lawyer sued for 1.3 billion by American Corporation

It’s never been a better time to be a shopper, given today's buy-anywhere retail environment. It's raining deals at stores, on social media, and inside in the comfort of the couch at your fingertips. Mobile commerce is expected to make up 83% of all e-commerce sales by 2024 and 8% of total retail1. And now shopping is such that points of discovery differ from the actual spot of purchase. A product on a streaming platform like <keyword id="685487" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="spotify" source="Orion">Spotify</keyword> catches a shopper's eye who then swings by the store or their preferred e-commerce platform. Catch the big wave in omnichannel surfing With e-commerce sales expected to grow by 27% by the end of 20211, there are more ways to shop and even more places for shoppers to discover that great find. So for an 'omnishopper' who shops across multiple devices and places, more accessibility does not make it easy for brands to target them. These shoppers aren’t just buying what they need, they’re constantly looking for what they want, or didn't know they wanted until they discovered it. This can make it hard for brands to foresee and prepare for their next move. Being spoiled for choice, messaging to this new-age consumer has to feel authentic, tailored, and respectful of their time and sensibilities. If not, they are going to bounce. So brands need to advertise in the right place that people trust. And when they do make a decision, it’s because they sense a personal relationship between themselves and the brand. At Spotify, we’ve worked hard to build this trust with our listeners. Omnishoppers seek out to make a statement. 89.7% of Spotify Free listeners discover brands and products from paid advertising2. A pair of kicks before everyone's wearing them is a thing of pride, much like being the first in their group to discover a new song from a favourite artist. The chase excites them and they know where to find it, just like how 43% of <keyword id="12294703" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gen-z-spotify" source="Orion">Gen Z Spotify</keyword> users said they’ve heard a song on social media, and then searched for it on Spotify3. And that's why our listeners spend their time with us, eager to explore, spending an average of 2.5 hours every day, with multi-device listeners of Spotify Free spending an average of 1.5 hours on Spotify each day4. Another big reason for brands to look at Spotify is what our listeners are planning. After delaying purchases in 2020, 1 in 3 Spotify users is looking at large, big-ticket purchases. Keep in mind that this is a user base that is likely to spend 15% more on what they want than any other cohort. The experience gets more personalized for them as they spend more time listening. So Spotify matches their vibe through different moments of their day, and no other media can match that level of connection. When it’s relevant, the recall is better too as 75% of Spotify listeners say they remember ads more when brands recognize their moment or setting5. Spotify helps brands reach listeners in the right moment, and the numbers speak for themselves - 2.7x higher awareness and 5.3x higher intent than campaigns with basic demographic targeting5. Help shoppers spot the next big thing on Spotify: Your brand Spotify listeners are savvy to online shopping trends. They are the trend-setters. Spotify Free listeners are almost 4.3x more likely to discover brands and products via music streaming than through TV ads and 1.5x more likely than through radio ads2. Offers and benefits can be the turning point to steer through a plethora of options. 59% of Spotify Free users agree that free delivery is the top driver of online purchases for them2. 51% prefer easy returns and 45% pick the lure of discounts and coupons2 It all comes down to targeting the right audience and enabling discovery for the engaged listener in an environment of trust. It’s just this that Spotify has built, that listeners keep coming back to every day, giving brands the perfect vantage point to reach the elusive omnishopper. Get in touch with us at <keyword id="12294701" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spotify-advertising-indiaspotify-com" source="Orion">spotify-advertising-india@spotify.com</keyword> to see how your brand can engage with the right audience - avid shoppers and people seeking some retail therapy. Sources: 1 – <keyword id="256870" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emarketer" source="Orion">eMarketer</keyword>, <keyword id="12294702" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="retail-forecast" source="Orion">Retail Forecast</keyword>, IN 2 - GWI, IN, Q1 2021 3 - Spotify Culture Next survey, conducted in April 2021 among 500 respondents 15-40 in India 4- IFPI Digital Music Report 2019 5 - Spotify Nielsen Brand Effect Studies, 2018 Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Spotify SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/its-not-just-zostel-oyo-has-20-other-lawsuits-to-fight/articleshow/86959438.cms">It's not just Zostel, OYO has 20 other lawsuits to fight</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-plans-to-launch-2nm-chipsets-by-2025-could-power-its-2026-flagships/articleshow/86959127.cms">Samsung plans to launch 2nm chipsets by 2025, could power its 2026 flagships</a>

Here’s why Spotify is your best connection to reach the new ‘omnishopper’

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The venture capital industry still isn't sure what to think of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/softbank">SoftBank's</a> $100 billion <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/vision-fund">Vision Fund</a>, even as it suffered setbacks on its investments in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/wework">WeWork</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/uber">Uber</a>.</li><li>Some in the industry blame the fund for inflating startup values and funding rounds; encouraging founders to focus on growth and ignore costs and losses, no matter how big; and setting off an unhealthy arms race in the venture capital world as firms raise ever larger funds.</li><li>But some think it's unfair to blame SoftBank for some of these trends, noting that funding rounds were getting larger long before the Vision Fund launched.</li><li>And others think the Vision Fund has benefitted the venture and startup industries, allowing founders to dream bigger and enabling companies to develop longer in private without being under the scrutiny of public markets.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Venture investors make tough calls every day, giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to an endless parade of startups.But one thing Silicon Valley's investment luminaries can't agree on is what to make of SoftBank, the Japanese tech mega-fund that landed in their midst three years ago.SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, have changed the rules of the game. Thanks to SoftBank's jumbo-sized checks and nose-bleed valuations, tech startups look and act a lot different than just a few years ago. For some Silicon Valley insiders, that's a good thing, with Masa dollars opening the door to fresh opportunities and innovations. Others think SoftBank has distorted the technology market and the startup ecosystem, inflating values, enabling poor financial discipline, and empowering companies with little inherent or sustainable competitive advantage.Now the debate is coming to a head, as two of SoftBank's biggest bets - Uber and WeWork - teeter on shaky ground, and as SoftBank plows ahead with plans to raise a second $100 billion Vision Fund. For tech VCs and founders, it's a proof-point moment that will put the SoftBank model to test, for better or for worse, and help Silicon Valley come to terms with its ultimate impact."SoftBank is like no one else," said Michael Duda, a managing partner at Bullish, a startup accelerator and investment firm that's backed smart fitness startup Peloton and online mattress firm Casper. "Everything they do," he continued, "is going to get a lot more scrutiny because of the size of what they're doing." <h2>SoftBank is warping the competitive landscape</h2>SoftBank is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/03/softbank-more-than-600-million-underwater-on-uber.html">down a reported $600 million on its investment in Uber</a> thanks to its disappointing initial public offering and the subsequent drop in its stock price. WeWork, meanwhile, is struggling to get investors on board with its public offering. In an effort to try to lure them in, it <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/111f8e00-d346-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77">has reportedly discussed slashing its valuation to as little as $15 billion</a>, or less than a third the valuation SoftBank conferred on it in January when the Vision Fund gave WeWork $2 billion in new funding.Some in and around the venture capital industry think Uber and WeWork's struggles represent SoftBank's comeuppance - and they're glad to see it. It would be a good thing if the setbacks at those companies spurred SoftBank's limited partners in the Vision Fund to scrutinize its investments more closely or forced it to scuttle its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-108-billion-vision-fund-ii-2019-7">planned follow-on Vision Fund</a>, said Greg Bohlen, a cofounder of Union Grove Venture Partners. "They have been an incredibly disruptive force in the venture ecosystem," Bohlen said.Read this: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-will-likely-find-investors-vision-fund-ii-despite-wework-2019-9">WeWork and Uber are giving SoftBank a black eye, but that doesn't mean Vision Fund II is in trouble, experts say</a>Part of SoftBank's detrimental impact involves its role encouraging startups and founders to focus on growth and not concern themselves with costs or the bottom line, Bohlen and others argue. That dynamic is most obvious at WeWork, which has been bleeding billions of dollars in cash amid its worldwide expansion and has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-s-1-prospectus-ipo-revenue-cash-flow-2019-8">seen its losses grow</a> about as quickly as its revenue.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Founders backed by SoftBank can lose their financial discipline, because they know they have its huge pool of money behind them, said Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures. But the Vision Fund's huge investments may also be pressuring founders into growing their companies faster than the startups can sustainably maintain, he said."That's kind of an open question and concern," said Murphy.The vast sums SoftBank is investing in startups - generally in the range of $100 million to several billion dollars - are warping the competitive landscape, Murphy and others in the industry said. Startups are getting a leg up in the market purely because they're swimming in SoftBank's cash - not because they've proven their business models or have some kind of important technological or organizational competitive advantage, said Dan Malven, a managing director at 4490 Ventures.The ability to raise vast sums has become their competitive advantage, he said. Conversely, those vast sums can discourage other investors from putting money into companies that actually have unique technologies or intrinsic competitive advantages, he said.In general, the role SoftBank has played in the startup ecosystem has "not been healthy," Malven said.In some cases, the Vision Fund seems to be trying to prematurely anoint a winner in particular markets, venture sources said. That seemed to be the case in the app-based dog-walking business, Murphy said.His firm invested in Rover in 2014. Last year - four years after Menlo's investment - SoftBank <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wag-raises-300-million-from-softbank-hires-hilary-schneider-as-ceo-2018-1">invested $300 million in its competitor, Wag</a>, even though Rover was still the "clear market leader" in the space, Murphy said. It still is, despite SoftBank's investment, he said."They tried to create a winner in Wag," Murphy said. "There are times," he continued, "where they just say, 'We want to be in this market, and we're going to pick the winner and help fuel them with capital to help create that market.'"SoftBank representatives did not return a call seeking comment.<h2>The Vision Fund has spurred an arms race in the venture industry</h2>SoftBank's large investments are also distorting the labor market, Malven said. Companies flush with the firm's funds are able to lure away top engineers and other workers who, in an ideal world, would have gone to work for startups that have more going for them than just SoftBank's cash, he said. If and when the unsustainable startups flounder, those workers will likely leave or be laid off, as has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-layoffs-global-marketing-team-2019-7">happening</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-fires-435-engineering-and-product-employees-2019-9">lately</a> at Uber.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>"There's just a lot of friction in the talent market that is bad for the overall industry," Malven said.Some think the Vision Fund hasn't just been bad for startups and the tech industry but also for the venture capital business. SoftBank's move to raise such an enormous fund has spurred other investors to scale up as well. In the last two years, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-success-with-snap-helps-venture-firm-lightspeed-raise-18-billion-for-new-funds-2018-7">Lightspeed Venture Partners</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-sequoia-capital-plans-8-billion-global-fund-eyes-china-investors-sources-2018-1">Sequoia Capital</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackstone-raises-22-billion-fund-its-largest-ever-source-2019-4">Blackstone Group</a>, among others, have all raised their largest-ever funds.All that money flowing into the venture industry has led to an oversupply of capital, particularly among late-stage investors, some venture figures said. The surplus funds have fueled competition among different firms looking to get stakes in hot startups, increasing funding rounds and oversupplying companies with cash, they said. The end result is likely to be wasted capital and poor returns, they said."That up-scaling" of venture funds in response to SoftBank "has just been horrendous," Union Grove's Bohlen said.But not everyone in the venture industry blames SoftBank for the super-sizing of venture funds and the swell in cash flowing into startups. Investors and companies around the world have been sitting on large pools of excess capital around the world, looking for places to invest it, some venture figures said. And venture rounds were getting bigger long before SoftBank set up the Vision Fund, they said.Despite the huge size of the Vision Fund, it's not dominating the venture capital market or determining the overall trends, said Bullish's Duda. It just doesn't account for enough investments to have that role, he said."They might get blamed. I think that's massively unfair," Duda said. He continued: "There would still be high valuations no matter what."<h2>Founders are dreaming bigger</h2>Indeed, even if SoftBank fails to raise money for its planned second Vision Fund, the firehouse of capital into the startup market likely won't abate much, said Jai Das, the president and a managing director of Sapphire Ventures. There are still lots of other well-capitalized venture, private equity, and hedge funds that are pouring money into the sector."There's plenty of capital still floating around even without the Vision Fund," Das said. He continued: "I dont think the entrepreneurs will have a hard time raising money for, really, the good companies, even if Vision Fund is not around."Regardless of how much responsibility they assign to SoftBank for the upscaling of funds and funding rounds, some in the venture industry, including Das, think the Vision Funds has played a positive role in the startup ecosystem. Even some of SoftBank's critics think the fund has benefitted the tech and venture industries in some ways.The big funding rounds that SoftBank has helped pioneer and lead have changed the mindset among entrepreneurs, Das said. It's allowed startup founders to think bigger about their companies and their potential, he said. It's now "normal" for companies whose annualized revenue has grown to only around $100 million to seek to raise $200 million or $250 million in new funding, Das said, which is much bigger than in the past.The Vision Fund has "made entrepreneurs dream big, sometimes foolishly, sometimes not," Das said. Softbank, he continued, has "changed the whole dynamic."<h2>SoftBank has a global focus</h2>The copious amounts of cash flowing into startups from SoftBank and other investors has allowed startups to stay private longer and avoid the intense scrutiny of the public markets. That's been helpful to companies that have needed more than the average amount of capital or time to prove out their business models, Murphy said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Twenty years ago, the public markets put up with Amazon's losses and gave the company time to develop, noted Phil Libin, cofounder and CEO of the technology incubator All Turtles who was previously an investor with the venture firm General Catalyst. But Amazon was one of the few exceptions, he said.Generally, public market investors are looking for returns on a much shorter time scale than new startups can deliver, Libin said. If SoftBank is willing to take on some of the risk by enabling startups to remain private while they continue to figure things out, that's a good thing, he said."I'm a huge fan of what they're trying do, in theory, and I hope it succeeds," Libin said.Libin also praised SoftBank for having a global outlook, rather than being narrowly focused on investing in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Among other companies, SoftBank and the Vision Fund have invested in Chinese ride-hailing company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-softbank-to-move-ride-hailing-stakes-worth-20-billion-to-vision-fund-ft-2018-4">Didi Chuxing</a>, India hotel chain Oyo Rooms, and Brazilian logistics technology company Loggi."There's no reason why you should have to be in Silicon Valley to get access to business capital if you have an idea that could really be world-changing," Libin said.SoftBank's going to make mistakes, said Duda. And because of the size of the Vision Fund and all of the scrutiny of it, those mistakes will be magnified in the press and in the industry, he said. But SoftBank has smart people and Son has a long-term vision. It's anyone's guess how it will all work out for the Vision Fund and for the rest of the industry, he said."In theory, I'm rooting for them," Duda said. "Because if they get involved with our companies, that means the valuation is probably going way up."Got a tip about SoftBank, WeWork, or Uber? Contact this reporter via email at twolverton@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/troywolv/">@troywolv</a>, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6"> contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more about SoftBank investment WeWork's planned IPO:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-3-trillion-addressable-market-grossly-overstated-experts-say-2019-9" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">WeWork says it has a $3 trillion market opportunity and has signed up only 0.2% of its potential customers. Here's why real-estate experts say those numbers don't add up.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-most-big-stock-grants-went-to-men-internal-study-2019-8" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link"> WeWork gave out 58 stock awards worth at least $1 million each in February, and 94% of them went to men, according to a lawsuit</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-47-billion-private-valuation-could-imperil-its-ipo-2019-8" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link"> Why WeWork's $47 billion private valuation could be a key stumbling block for its IPO - and might even derail it completely</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-47-billion-and-4-billion-lease-disparity-dangerous-recipe-2019-8" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link"> 2 big numbers - $4 billion and $47 billion - sum up WeWork's business model and the risky reason it could collapse in a recession</a></li><li> </li></ul> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=uber&amp;itm_campaign=40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019-3"></a>

Venture investors still aren't sure what to make of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund. Depending on who you ask, they're either rooting for it, or gleeful that it's struggling with WeWork and Uber.

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Venture investors still aren't sure what to make of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund. Depending on who you ask, they're either rooting for it, or gleeful that it's struggling with WeWork and Uber.

Troy Wolverton

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