Your "Future of Work" Is Here NOW

It's been a rough year with people seeing their friends and co-workers getting laid off. It sucks for everyone. At the same time, conditions are prime for the future of tech in the form of exciting, early-stage opportunities that can build the next generation of giants.?

What a stark contrast between the communication from Stripe/Meta and then Twitter, Cameo, Better.com, etc. They feel very different because they are. Leaders need to own their decisions and provide some clarity on why the workforce needs to be reduced. Note to those “congratulating” themselves for laying off employees in the best way possible so that you look good - please don't do that. This isn't about you.

Being a leader is hard - don't be one if you aren't ready to listen and learn. Bad people make bad leaders. Lead and communicate to your teams with empathy out front. Treat people like human beings. That shouldn't be as hard - but based on some of the way these tough and hard decisions have been communicated and managed - it seems to be.

For those impacted negatively – now is the time to take a breath and put yourself first.?

Take a little time (as much as you can afford) to find something with a mission you deeply care about with people you will learn from. The shift in the “Post Future of Work” is wind at your back - you have more power and agency than you realize to dictate what happens next and how that benefits you, your family, and your career. Take some time to really understand what makes you happy, productive, and fulfilled so you can be excited to go to work again (whether it's your home office or not or both) with people who are fun to work with.

The silver lining is that scary times are an opportunity. The future leaders and disruptors will make the most out of this difficult moment.

We know because we’ve been there before - I have been there before. I was at Facebook when we were about 275 people in late 2008. Large companies at the time were doing what they are doing now - and startups were accelerating, like they are today.?

In 2008/09/10, when everyone else was firing, I was hiring.?

I was hiring people from Yahoo, Turner, AOL, and others with great experiences and expertise in building Web 1.0 to build what was going to come next. They were people who were ready to roll up their sleeves, didn’t care about titles, wanted to sit with future leaders and disruptors, and had the savviness to know that the best teams win.?

While a number of those companies that laid people off didn’t ultimately survive, the people who came out of them were survivors and were world-class operators and builders. They were the people who made others better. I didn't care as much about their GPAs or degrees, I wanted their experience, empathy, hunger, teamwork and grit. The knowledge they brought in the early days of Facebook was pivotal in our subsequent path to becoming one of the most valuable and impactful companies in the world.?

All this to say that now – today – there are great companies out there that are looking for world-class talent.?

Maybe these companies couldn’t afford to pry you away from where you were before these layoffs happened. Or they weren’t far enough along in their road map to entice you with their pitch on their mission, especially when compared to the scale of work you were used to. They may be just starting out, are less than 15 people, have a big idea, and are in the early days of executing it.??

The savviest builders are catching on, though. My Co-Founders Josh and Steven spoke with the Wall Street Journal about how layoffs are an opportunity for startup Founders – leading to this article featuring two of our founders, Kathy (Streamline AI) and Kunal (Arya), talking about recent crucial hires they’ve made partly thanks to the growing talent pool.?

You have options (and options are important)

These early-stage opportunities could be the most exciting work you will ever have a chance to do in your career, but keep in mind that those windows close fast and those opportunities are rare.?

There is no better learning opportunity than working at an early-stage company. I used to tell my team if you can succeed at a startup, you can succeed anywhere. There is risk in any job, as we are seeing now with the layoffs. Big companies are just as risky but in different ways. Bet on yourself and bet on an amazing team in a sector that is ripe for growth and you will minimize your risk.

It may also mean a little less cash with more equity. Try to figure out ways to balance the risk/reward. Lean into the discomfort.

This may not feel good for a while, but remember, you can build the next generation of world-class tech companies like the ones we have been lucky to invest in. And maybe that company is the next billion-dollar company built out of volatile market conditions – like LinkedIn and Shutterstock post the .com crash and Twilio and Slack post the '08 crash.

Follow the interesting work. Follow the manager you loved to work for. Follow the great teams you want to be a part of. Be a part of what comes next - not just what was.?

Hopefully, some of our resources may be helpful on the go forward:

• Check out www.tealhq.com where you can organize your search and put your best self forward.? They built a great playbook with tips on how to navigate a layoff here
• Check out www.joincontinuum.com where you can look at fractional opportunities
• Check out our job board of open roles across the entire portfolio at: oceans.ventures/jobs
• Consolidated list of open roles across tech currently can be found here
• Our friends and partners at F7 put this together: This form is intended for Meta layoff impacted employees looking for work-- your information will go into a sheet to be shared in the tech community
• This is a SWE Formation Resume Book from our friends at Formation. This resume book is completely free - there is no company placement fee
• From our friends at Growth by Design Talent - here is a consolidated job board for open roles for recruiting leaders

If you are a startup with open roles - please post them and ask your investors, partners, employees and friends to do the same. Recruit every day. Make time to talk to really smart people about what you are doing today and how they can play an important role going forward - whether you currently have open roles or not. Always be Recruiting!!!?

As a Founder - you need to be a great recruiter. Building a great team is how you win. This is an opportunity to turbo charge that.

And maybe, just maybe, you will start the next trillion-dollar business (hopefully with Oceans on your cap table).

My DM's are open: Anything I or we can do to help - please don’t hesitate to reach out.