6 VCs share advice for laid-off tech workers planning to launch startups

Welcome to TechCrunch+ Tuesday

Many tech workers have never experienced a job market like this one.

Losing a job unexpectedly is more than a financial shock. Many of us invest much of our identity in what we do for a living, which means layoffs can transform social and emotional lives overnight.

Slashing your spending and polishing your LinkedIn page is the right move, but investors tell me that now is still a good time to launch a startup.

The fact that you’ve just been laid off from a startup proves that you have a tolerance for risk. How much are you willing to bet on yourself?

Depending on where you worked and what you did, you may already have the experience investors are looking for when it comes to reaching product-market fit and solving engineering problems.

I surveyed six seed- and early-stage investors to get their tactical advice for laid-off tech workers who are thinking about starting up. Most of them were so open to receiving pitches, they said we could include their contact information.

Each shared details about the sort of deals they’re looking for right now and indicated how they prefer to be approached with pitches.

Here’s who I spoke with:

• Rex Salisbury, partner, Cambrian Ventures
• Christine Tsai, CEO and founding partner, 500 Global
• Anna Barber, partner, M13
• Dr. Galym Imanbayev, partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
• Deena Shakir, general partner, Lux Capital
• Stephanie Palmeri, partner, NextView Ventures

Thanks very much for reading,

Walter Thompson
Editorial Manager, TechCrunch+
@yourprotagonist

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