Startups are pummeled in the ‘great unwinding’
Startups are in way better shape than traditional small businesses.By our very nature, we need months of runway just to keep running. We're designed to weather this kind of storm because "zero revenue" is the default state.Hearing about Bird cutting 30% of their workforce is awful. But it's nothing compared to the thin-margin Mom & Pop, or medium sized private enterprise that had 1 week of cash on hand and ceased operations overnight.My friends and family in startups are doing fine, for the moment. It's those that chose to work at the more stable, traditional work environments that are getting wiped out, and much less likely to return when the economy starts back. Because when it does, there will be money ready for investment - extending your runway to get there for a startup is more straightforward. But when you're a bigger business with little cash and no-one is buying assets right now, you literally are unable to make any decision to help.I've got friends in manufacturing, hospitality, services, and so on that will not return to work because their businesses are going to or have already failed, for good. That's the fucking terrifying thing happening right now and it's more deserving of attention than us tech bros.