Tech layoffs create a new era of rambling (and humiliated) founders

Natasha Mascarenhas @nmasc_ / 11 a.m.

Access to Silicon Valley often includes access to a smart mentor, a well-connected venture capitalist, or even a rocket ship from a startup.

But an emerging class of founders reminds the ecosystem how collapse can also be an enabler. Laid-off talent is flocking to build startups in every industry, from climate to crypto to the creator economy. And they hope to correct where their alma maters – both big tech companies and small upstarts – went wrong.

New data from Day One Ventures, a venture capital firm that backs early-stage founders, shows how seedlings are beginning to bloom. Founder and GP Masha Bucher, who left her former life in Russia as a politician and TV journalist to become a venture capitalist, launched a program to help would-be founders in the wake of recent layoffs from Stripe and Twitter. /p>

She said she believes that at least 0.1% to 1% of the thousands of tech workers who have been laid off this year could become Incredible Founders.