Is it True that Former Startup Founders are Struggling to Find Jobs Due to a Certain Stigma?

JAKARTADAILY.ID – In the last three months, the global technology industry was shaken badly by the economic slowdown. The flow of capital that in the last five years has flowed into the digital technology sector has begun to drag.

Investors and venture capitalists withhold funding and shift their investment to other sectors that are considered more potential and profitable in times of recession. It is not surprising that throughout 2022, there will be massive layoffs of employees in the technology sector.

The site Layoffs.fyi reports that as of July 22, 2022, there are as many as 56,224 employees from 381 global startup companies that have been laid off. That number could be much larger because not all companies announce data on reductions in their employees.

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Although the results of this survey better describe the conditions of the working world in the United States, the social entrepreneurship observer at Prasetiya Mulya University, Dr. Rudy Handoko, believes that a similar situation is likely to occur in Indonesia.

"It's not uncommon for a startup founder to enter the job market after his business fails, or business growth is slow," he said.

The problem, said Rudy, is that there is a kind of stigma around startup founders, or those who have served as chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and chief marketing officers at a startup company have arrogant characters, feel all-knowing, and other negative stigmas.

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“Even though recruiters need employees who are humble, open-minded, and open to learning new things.”

Partner at Living Lab Ventures, Bayu Seto, assessed that startup founders actually have a number of advantages. Among them, former startup founders are knowledgeable generalists.

“They are critical in observing business opportunities that have the potential to be acquired, as well as sensitive to red flags that have the potential to be deal breakers. This they have because of experience in the management and operations of the company. So that their experience as founders of this startup provides a fairly mature view in making investments, "he said.

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But he also found that most of the former founders of early-stage startups tend to be hyper-focused on the product or service they are building. This makes them forget the big picture of the solution they are trying to bring to the market.

"It even makes them reluctant to pivot when the market trend changes instantly," he explained.