Looking at how TechCrunch+ covered ventures in 2022, we didn’t see much positive news. We saw again layoffs, calls for growth at all costs, VCs with piles of cash, and underfunding for minority groups. Some of these may seem contradictory, but that’s the recipe for VC success.
Take a look at the top TechCrunch+ venture stories for 2022.
The pendulum of power is returning to employers, isn’t it?
Layoffs have swept the tech industry all year long.
Natasha Mascarenhas spoke with Nolan Church, who led Carta’s 2020 layoffs as chief human resources officer. However, the new year will see even more layoffs. “We estimate that an additional 30,000 to 40,000 tech workers will be laid off worldwide in the first quarter of 2023,” Church said. That follows more than 100,000 people being laid off by 2020,” Natasha reports.
Well, no, most VCs still don’t really care about the road to profitability.
In 2021, startups were instructed to grow at all costs. They were over-hiring and inefficient customer acquisition, but venture capitalists funded them. Rebecca Szkutak reports that a VC has decided that running out of cash in the name of growth isn’t the best thing to do. But have you seen VCs follow through on their demands?
Operators, please move. Consultants are the new, non-traditional VC.
Startup consulting firms raise their own venture capital to fund companies they already partner with. A little more complicated than that, Rebecca asks: Turns out the startup wanted them.
In record dry powder, VCs are determined to fund anything but you
You may have seen startup consultancies handing out money, but you didn’t see the same thing, even though traditional VCs have the money to do so. Since 2020, there has been much discussion about funding historically underrepresented groups, but I have not seen VCs pouring money into lip service. But they fund some people. As Rebecca puts it, “Because they’re not endorsing anyone. They’re just endorsing everyone but you.”
Black startup founders raised just $187 million in Q3
Dominic-Madori Davis surveyed the amount of capital raised by black entrepreneurs in the third quarter of 2022. Adele’s net worth is $220 million. However, these numbers are not necessarily surprising. TechCrunch reports that investors are often reducing their risk to minorities and exiting networks during economic downturns. ‘Dom says he will monitor this data in 2023.
