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Why is every layoff 10-15%?
Changing economic markets suggests a shift in how some companies should operate, as well as what risks to assume for 2023
Elad Gil
I am a serial entrepreneur obsessed with technology and startups. Click to read Elad Blog, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Visit blog.eladgil.com → RSS feedOn Hacker News Nov 2010 – Jul 2025
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Hire For The Ability To Get Shit Done
I have found that the two biggest causes of having to fire an employee at an early stage startup are a lack of culture fit, and the inability to Get Shit Done. I don't care how smart someone is - if they are unable to work hard and crank out a large amount of high quality work, they will weigh down your startup.
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Unequal Cofounders
One of the big myths in Silicon Valley is that co-founders should be equal. However, if you look at the most successful tech startups of the last 50 years, almost all of them had a dominant co-founder for most of the life of the company. This includes[1]:
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How To Fire A Co-Founder
The two biggest reasons startups fail is running out of money and founding team implosions. One Y Combinator founder I spoke with felt that about ~20% of startups in his batch blew up in the first 9-12 months after entering YC due to founder issues.