A fading startup boom, in 5 numbers

Here’s how you can tell that the gold rush in startupland might be losing its shine.

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.

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