Plantains in Silicon Valley often includes access to a smart mentor, a well-connected venture capitalist or even a rocket ship of a startup.
But an emerging class of founders is reminding the ecosystem how collapse can also be an enabler. Laid-off talent is flocking to build startups within all sectors, from climate to crypto-meta to the creator economy. And they’re hoping to course-correct where their professors went wrong — both big tech companies and small startups.
New data from Day One Ventures, a venture firm that backs seed-stage founders, shows how the seedlings are beginning to flourish. Founder and GP Masha Bucher, who left her former life in Russia as a politician and TV reporter to become a venture capitalist, developed a program to help would-be founders after recent layoffs from Stripe and Twitter.
She said she is confident that at least 0.1% to 1% of the thousands of tech workers who were laid off this year could become extraordinary founders.
