The gold rush in startupland is starting to lose its shine.
So declares The New York Times in a new piece about all the young companies that have fallen on hard times lately. From misguided investments to sweeping layoffs, the numbers ain’t pretty:
1️⃣ $763B: That’s about how much money poured into startups over the last decade. But the tide turned last year.
2️⃣ 2,215 startups raised money in the last 3 months of 2019 — the fewest since late 2016. It was also a bad quarter for some high-flying investors.
3️⃣ $2B: That’s the operating loss that SoftBank reported for its Vision Fund and other investments for the final quarter of last year.
4️⃣ 8k+: That’s about how many jobs have been slashed over the last 4 months, at 30+ startups.
5️⃣ 350: That’s how few orders a scooter startup, Unicorn, received after raking in $150k from investors last year. How did it burn through all that money before it imploded? Spending on online ads.