Closing Operations

Earlier this week, we announced to the team and the community that Round will be ceasing operations, effective today. Below is an excerpt from the message I shared:

Dear Round Members,

I’m writing to share with you the unfortunate news that Round will be shutting down operations effective March 15th.

When Mani, Brian and I started Round in early 2021, we did it with the mission to accelerate the positive impact of technology on our world by amplifying the impact of leaders who lead with empathy, humility and curiosity. That mission still resonates strongly with us today. The best part of Round is, and has always been, all of the people who embody these values and are driving the technology industry forward in better ways. We will forever be grateful to all of you for bringing this mission to life.

I recognize that this announcement may come as a surprise to many of you. We regularly hear that people think Round is quite successful. In many ways it is—hundreds of amazing members, worthwhile programming, positive brand perception, great investors, and more.?We believe that, together with you, we created something special and worthwhile.?Unfortunately, despite all of this, we have been unable to make Round economically viable.??

The business side of things started out very strong, but the intense turmoil in the technology industry that began in late 2022 has proven challenging to navigate. As you all know in your own lives, times have been tough.?This environment has had a negative impact on the psychology, job security and financial stability of all of us in the industry.?Specifically for Round, the widespread layoffs and budget cuts have impaired the ability for members to attain employer sponsorship requiring us to focus on lower price points than the business model originally contemplated and adding significant friction to acquiring and retaining members. This combined with the challenging venture markets has left us with something that unfortunately no longer makes sense as a venture-backed business.?We have explored several alternative go-forward paths, but ultimately concluded that the right thing to do is to wind down the business and return the remaining capital to investors.

Since sharing this note, I’ve been overwhelmed by the response from Round members. Our community showed that Round’s mission still resonates and will continue to endure through volunteer moderators and community organizers, and continuing to build on the relationships that sparked throughout Round’s formal existence.

In the past 2+ years, we’ve brought together an incredible team as well as a community of hundreds members who are leaders in their fields and committed to driving technology forward in a way that makes the world better. Together we created a space for valuable and vulnerable discussions about the impact of our work, learned from one another as we watched the age of AI take hold, and went through personal and professional transitions while supported by our peers. As I look back, I’m proud of what Round accomplished and am grateful that it will continue to live on.

I’ll end simply by saying thank you.? Thank you to all of you who joined Round and engaged in building this community with us.

With gratitude,

Ryan Fuller

Co-founder and CEO, Round