It’s time to hunker down and take my own advice – advice that I think every startup (and every business in general) should be considering right now.
The economic future is uncertain for everyone around the globe – and Appcelerator is not immune from this uncertainty. I’ve heard a lot of talk that the startup/VC environment won’t be too badly affected by the macro economy. I’m by nature a “betting man” as I’m a serial entrepreneur. However, I’m also not an idiot and I try and learn from past mistakes. This global economic spiral will be protracted and all aspects of the economy will suffer for a period of time in my opinion.
Today, I’m making a very difficult decision for the sustainability of our business and for capital conservation. We’re going to shut down our Atlanta office, layoff the six remaining employees and attempt to completely reduce all expenses related to this location immediately.
For a company that just recently closed a $4.1M series A venture round and has a very healthy amount of cash on the balance sheet, this may seem nonsensical. However, in these uncertain times, my main priority is survival and ensuring we have at least 2 years worth of cash on hand even in a worse case revenue scenario. With some of the adjustments we are making today, this will give us that runway.
This is also a difficult situation because we are letting go six very wonderful team members, some of which have been with us for almost 2 years and some which I have worked with now at 2 startups and have known for a long time. Appcelerator wouldn’t “be” if it weren’t for every single person in Atlanta. The decision on who remains and who stays is always a difficult one and this decision isn’t reflective of their value, but rather, our plan for how we’ll continue for the next period of time and the skills we need to fit that plan. In a more perfect world, none of us would be where we are at today. However, tough times require tough decisions. We’re going to miss everyone very dearly.
Our plan going forward is to continue to focus on building a great set of products and continue the work of building and nurturing our fast growing community. We appreciate your support and continued best wishes during this difficult time.
Popularity: 44% [?]
Other popular articles you might enjoy:
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
