Neglect flat — small cuts are the brand new up • TechCrunch

When enterprise markets flip from greed to concern, there’s a meme that goes round in startup circles that flat is the brand new up. It’s shorthand for the concept in tougher market situations, a startup defending its prior valuation in a proximate enterprise spherical is nearly as good as elevating new capital at the next valuation in higher investing situations.

The brutal repricing of tech firms within the final yr has led to some notes — together with from this publication — that we had as soon as once more discovered ourselves in flat = up territory. Immediately, nevertheless, the sport appears to be like slightly bit totally different.

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Information that Stripe is reportedly making an attempt to execute a gentle layoff by culling lower-performing workers landed right now, together with information that Databricks, one of many different most dear startups of all time, trimmed its inside (409A) valuation by a modest quantity, round 7%.

Naturally, you would possibly take a look at the information and suppose, dang, a few of these unicorns did get out of pocket final yr! In spite of everything, fintech big Stripe took a 28% haircut to its personal inside valuation earlier this yr, so absolutely we’re seeing indicators of extra being drained out of the market?

Truly no, not likely.